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Israel’s reported airstrikes against Syria over the last three days drew condemnations across the Middle East Sunday, including from leaders who have been harshly critical of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Egypt, Lebanon, and the Arab League, amongst others, called on the international community to take steps to prevent further attacks. The across-the-board condemnations emphasized Israel’s “aggression” and stressed disapproval at Jerusalem’s lack of respect for the war-torn country’s sovereignty. “Egypt condemns the Israeli attack on Syria, which is considered a violation against international principles and laws complicating the current situation in Syria and threatening the security and stability of the...

Israeli officials report their target was a shipment of advanced long-range missiles headed to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. They are both a major supporter of the Assad regime in Syria and an outspoken enemy of Israel.   Aa   BEIRUT — Israeli warplanes bombed the outskirts of Damascus early Sunday for the second time in recent days, according to Syrian state media and reports from activists, signaling a sharp escalation in tensions between the neighboring countries that had already been exacerbated by the conflict raging in Syria.Though there was no official confirmation that Israel had carried out the...

The 2,000-year-old Jobar Synagogue in the Syrian capital of Damascus was looted and burned to the ground. The Syrian army loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebel forces are blaming each other for the destruction of the historic synagogue ... The Jobar synagogue was built atop a cave that, according to tradition, was used by the prophet Elijah to conceal himself from prosecution. The synagogue is said to have been built by Elijah's successor, the prophet Elisha, and repaired during the first century by Eleazar ben Arach.

Bashar al-Assad was killed by a bodyguard ... (Arab media) Update: According to Arab media www.eltira.org , Bashar al-Assad would have been seriously wounded by gunfire last night Saturday, March 23 by his bodyguard but Iran is not dead. He is currently hospitalized, between life and death, Shami Hospital in Damascus which the streets were closed. Proprietary information (in France): According to reports in the Arab press (and then republished in the Israeli press ), information that journalists say they have "verified" the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was killed this morning by one of his bodyguards. An important safety device...

On New Year’s Day in 1988, Abdullah Ali, an Iraqi businessman who had been living in London for eight years, joined three compatriots for dinner at a restaurant called Cleopatra in Notting Hill.The next morning, he was taken ill with flu-like symptoms and was admitted to hospital. There his condition rapidly deteriorated — his hair fell out, he developed excruciating skin and joint pain, and paralysis and respiratory failure began to set in. Fifteen days later he was dead — but not before he had begun to wonder whether something had been added to his vodka. He was right: the...

Just now.. breaking on Shepard Smith's show. Huge explosion in Damascus.

As the civil war in Syria enters its third year, there is much discussion of the regimeÂ’s chemical weapons and whether SyriaÂ’s Bashar al-Assad will unleash them against Syrian rebels, or whether a power vacuum after AssadÂ’s fall might make those horrific tools available to the highest bidder. The conversation centers on SyriaÂ’s chemical weaponry, not on something vastly more serious: its nuclear weaponry. It well might have. This is the inside story of why it does not. Relations between the United States and Israel had grown rocky after IsraelÂ’s incursion into Lebanon in 2006, for Secretary of State Condoleezza...

Obama’s Amazing AchievementsHis military intervention prompted some stunning reversals. By bombing Libya, President Obama has accomplished some things once thought absolutely impossible in America:(a) War-mongering liberals: Liberals are now chest-thumping about military “progress� in Libya. Even liberal television and radio commentators cite ingenious reasons why an optional, preemptive American intervention in an oil-producing Arab country, without prior congressional approval or majority public support — and at a time of soaring deficits — is well worth supporting, in a sort of “my president, right or wrong,� fashion. Apparently, liberal foreign policy is returning to the pre-Vietnam days of the hawkish “best...

Pro-regime Syrian newspaper Al Diyar reported Friday that the army has loaded four Scud missiles, each with an explosive head of 500 kilograms, and is ready to strike Israel. The newspaper also stated that the Syrian army command held a meeting Thursday evening to discuss a response to Israel, including striking research centers in Tel Aviv. Mohammed Dirar Jammu, head of political and international relations at the World Organization of Arab expatriates, said to pro-Syrian regime TV channel Alakhbarya that "the Syrian military response to the Israeli bombing of the research center, in Damascus, will be earthshaking and staggering to...

The Israeli elections, President Obama’s inauguration speech and the violence in Syria all feature prominently in Arab news Tuesday. >>SNIP<< Quoting French sources, A-Sharq Al-Awsat quotes an exchange between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the international envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi. According to the daily, Brahimi told Assad that he could not remain in power and that the opposition could defeat him, but the cost may be the complete destruction of Damascus. To that, Assad reportedly answered “I will win the war, even if Damascus is destroyed.”

"We tell Benjamin Netanyahu, the (Israeli) prime minister, get ready. The army of the Prophet Mohammad is coming your way." Abu Muhammad al-Tahawi, jihadist leader in Syria They can say what they want, kill whom they like, oppress and subjugate at will, and get unequivocal money and support, but if a Jew dares to build a home in Jerusalem, there's hell to pay. "America is the mother of all terror in the world" -- Abed Shihadeh, who is also known as Abu Muhammad al-Tahawi, jihadist leader in Syria Oh, and Obama is backing these jihadi rebels. Jordanian "Salafist leader, First...

Forget the Grand Prix or the Daytona 500, the real race right now is the race to Damascus. The racers include Syrian rebels in pickup trucks with mounted machine guns and homemade tanks, toting weapons and equipment supplied and paid for by Qatar and Turkey, and more covertly by the British and French intelligence services. Racing along with them are carloads of international diplomats urging their governments to give the Islamist militias more money and more weapons. Everyone is on the road to Damascus in this amazing race. Christian refugees from Aleppo, Alawites packing in behind the tanks of the...

Following are excerpts from footage of a demonstration that took place in Damascus, which was posted on the Internet on September 14, 2012. Demonstrator: Oh Bashar, you traitor... Crowds: Oh Bashar, you traitor... Demonstrator: We want to instate the Koran. Crowds: We want to instate the Koran. Demonstrator: To hell with freedom... Crowds: To hell with freedom... Demonstrator: We want an Islamic caliphate. Crowds: We want an Islamic caliphate. Demonstrator: To hell with being peaceful... Crowds: To hell with being peaceful... Demonstrator: We want weapons and AK-47s. Crowds: We want weapons and AK-47s. Demonstrator: To hell with being peaceful... Crowds:...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops are currently pounding Aleppo after Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces launched an offensive attack. Days earlier, regime forces were cracking down on a FSA guerilla attack in the heart of the capital, Damascus. In Homs, clashes between both forces are ongoing. Yet there is still no sign that Assad is even considering stepping down. It has become clear that there's no going back for the Syrian people, as they are now convinced that Assad had no intention of reform. Consequently, the rebellion is spreading, defections within the regime's army are increasing and opposition forces have...

I’m finishing writing my new novel, The Damascus Countdown, this week, but set aside fiction for a moment — the painful truth is that Syria is imploding. The bloodthirsty regime of Bashar al-Assad is slaughtering its own people, and steadily losing control of the country. The latest reports indicate that more than 20,000 Syrians have been murdered. Top Syrian officials are defecting. The rebels are steadily winning control of more and more of the country. Iran is sending forces to fight on behalf of the Assad regime against the rebels. Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly sending naval warships...

Opposition fighters battled Syrian government forces in Damascus into the early hours of Monday in what residents described as the fiercest fighting yet inside the capital.

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A senior member of Hamas was murdered in Damascus on Wednesday, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq announced. In a message posted to his Facebook page, al-Rishq said that the murdered member of Hamas is Kamal Ranaja, also known as Nizzar Abu-Mujhad. Al-Rishq said that Hamas will investigate the circumstances that led to Ranaja’s murder. Despite previously being close allies, there has been a rift between Hamas and the Syrian regime ever since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began. Reports surfaced as early as last May that Hamas is moving its headquarters from Damascus to Egypt and the terror group...

(AP) DAMASCUS, Syria - Two strong explosions shook the Syrian capital Thursday, sending a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. The explosions were in the Qazaz neighborhood, where a Syrian intelligence agency has its headquarters. The explosions happened just before 8 a.m., when employees are usually arriving at work. CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from the scene, says about 40 burned-out cars and possibly dozens of badly burned bodies were scattered in front of the intelligence office.

DAMASCUS -- Lebanese Hizbollah is an independent body which enjoys the protection of all Muslim states, Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mohmoud Hashemi Shahroudi told foreign reporters here on Sunday. Shahroudi also called on Muslim and Arab states to back the Lebanese resistant movement, IRNA reported. The U.S has adopted a double-standard policy in its war on terror and is using it as an 'excuse' to crush nations in support of the Israeli regime, Shahroudi said when asked by the Xinhua news agency. The Judiciary official further said that the Islamic Republic is working alongside Muslim and Arab states on a...

Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a U.N.-backed peace deal. The agreement proposed by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence immediately. The army kept up an offensive against opposition strongholds on Saturday, pummelling the Khalidiya district of Homs city. "Mortars are falling every minute and the sounds of explosions are shaking the neighborhood," an activist report said. A child...

Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say. Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity. "Over the past year, Iran has provided security assistance to Damascus to help shore up Assad. Tehran during the last couple of months has been aiding...

Well, things in Syria are getting a bit more complicated. Weeks after the news that special operators from NATO countries may be inside Syria advising the rebels, comes the news that Russia has dispatched counterterrorism troops to the embattled nation. Now, some news reports say the Russian’s claim they’ve just sent a Navy tanker to support anti-piracy operations in Middle Eastern waters and that any troops aboard that ship are simply there to protect the tanker’s civilian crew and that there are no Russian counterterror troop in Syria. Now, the ship is docked in the Syrian port of Tartus on...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was investigating the man who allegedly planned the Sept. 11 airplane hijackings and attacks on New York and Washington when he was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan, according to two former Central Intelligence Agency officials. Bob Baer, a former case officer in the agency's Directorate of Operations, said he provided Pearl with unpublished information about Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who has since been accused by American officials of being one of the masterminds of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a top aide to Osama bin Laden. Mohammed is...

-excerpt- Syrian television reported that cars packed with explosives had targeted an intelligence centre and a police headquarters at 7.30 am (01.30 am EDT), blowing the front off one building and sending debris and shattered glass flying through the streets. Gruesome images from the sites showed what appeared to be smoldering bodies in two separate vehicles, a wrecked minivan smeared with blood, and severed limbs collected in sacks. At least 27 people were killed and 97 were wounded, another television channel said, quoting Health Minister Wael al-Halki

The Syrian army has recaptured most of the northern rebel stronghold of Idlib near the Turkish border, pushing hundreds of military defectors out of a major base they had held for months even as pockets of resistance kept up their fight Tuesday. Members of the rebel Free Syrian Army gather in a mountainous area of the restive Idlib province in northwestern Syria. The three-day operation to capture the city followed closely after a similar offensive to dislodge the opposition from another key piece of territory it had controlled, the Baba Amr district in central Homs. The two victories gave President...

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has ended talks with President Bashar al-Assad and left Syria with little sign of progress on halting the country's growing political bloodshed. "I am optimistic for several reasons," Annan said in Damascus on Sunday. "The situation is so bad and so dangerous that all of us cannot afford to fail." There was no clear response from Assad to Annan's "concrete proposals" for a ceasefire, dialogue and humanitarian aid. Assad told Annan opposition "terrorists" were blocking any political solution. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on...

Despite reports of high-level defections of government and military officials, U.S. intelligence sees no signs of significant deterioration of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by his inner circle, senior U.S. intelligence officials said Friday. Read also: U.N. envoy to meet with Syria's president The officials, who would speak only on the condition that their names not be used, said that to date, the defections have been of lower-level officials and those in the military. None of those defections, including the group of military officers who are reported to have defected this week, are close enough to al-Assad to truly...

As the world continues to debate if or when Iran will attempt to develop nuclear weapons – and what could happen if the Unites States and/or Israel strike – Iran’s closest ally in the region likely already has weapons of mass destruction. Syria, in what many characterize as a response to the Middle East’s worse kept military secret, namely a highly capable Israeli nuclear weapons program, seems to have developed a stockpile of chemical weapons and the means to deploy them. And with Syria in chaos, such weapons only make for a potentially deadlier regional situation. As U.S. Sen. John...

A number of recent articles make the case that the administration’s Syria policy is incoherent. Elliott Abrams says it’s worse than that: The White House’s position on Syria is duplicitous. Abrams looks at a series of recent interviews Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has given to the press about Syria, and identifies what appear to be the administration’s three reasons for not supporting the Syrian opposition. First is the administration’s concern that, according to Clinton, al Qaeda may have infiltrated the opposition. Second, she contends that arming the opposition is futile because given the regime’s firepower there is no way...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Street battles raged on the doorstep of the Syrian capital on Monday, as President Bashar al-Assad's troops sought to consolidate their grip on suburbs rebel fighters had taken only a few miles from the centre of Assad's power. Activists and residents said Syrian troops now had control of Hamouriyeh, one of a cluster of districts where they have used armored vehicles and artillery to beat back rebels who came as close as eight km (five miles) to Damascus. An activist said the Free Syrian Army - a force of military defectors with links to Syria's divided political...

Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor, Damascus When the BBC team approached a checkpoint set up by the rebel Free Syria Army in the suburbs of Damascus, masked men with Kalashnikov assault rifles and hand grenades moved towards us - a few of them offering dates and biscuits. It is customary to give mourners something sweet, and a funeral was about to start that they said they were protecting. I had no idea before I saw them with my own eyes that the Free Syria Army was so active in and around Damascus....

The burden against Damascus. “ Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17::1)Like much of the Arab world, Syria is a nation in agony. The passions incited by the “Arab Spring” have been inflamed in Syria, as they have in the rest of the middle east. No one can fault the people of the region for longing to throw off the suffocating tyrannies that have held absolute rule over them for so long. Through a ruthless willingness to crush all dissent, the late Hafez Assad and his son Bashir, have made...

DAMASCUS — Is this your first visit to Syria, the passport control man asks me. No, I tell him, I came here once before over a decade ago. He stamps my passport. I had been very lucky to get a Syrian visa this time. The travel advice was not to visit. The Syrian regime is very wary of foreigners, fearing that journalists and spies are inflaming the situation further. I collect my bag and walk through customs, passing a poster, of modest size, of President Bashar al-Assad with the words in Arabic proclaiming: "Leader of the youth, hope of the...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least 32 civilians on Friday, including 23 in the capital Damascus, in an intensifying crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. It was the highest death toll in the central neighborhoods of Damascus since the uprising erupted four months ago in the southern Hauran Plain near Syria's border with Jordan.

Cell seeks to avenge assassination of Imad Mughniyeh; attack could target Israelis in immediate future, security sources warn; Talal Hamia named as Hezbollah commander charged with carrying out strike. Hezbollah is planning a terrorist attack against Israelis abroad within days, security sources warned on Thursday night. The warning of the imminent attack did not mention specific locations. It was issued as many Israelis were abroad for the weeklong Pessah holiday. Security is being stepped up at potential Jewish and Israeli targets overseas, the sources said. They named Hezbollah operative Talal Hamia as the commander of a small but well-organized overseas...

Part of the regime’s survival strategy is to keep out foreign journalists. Agency reporters have been expelled, bloggers detained. Snippets of information leak out through furtive phone calls, Facebook and Twitter, revealing a partial picture of a regime trying to repress dissent with increasing desperation. Last week, however, I spent five days in Damascus and the south of the country where the protests began, talking to political activists, students and ordinary families. Some were too scared to discuss politics; others could not stop. On the surface, everything was normal. The sun shone, tourists trod the ancient streets of Damascus and...

DAMASCUS, Syria – Troops opened fire on protesters in cities across Syria and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed in the capital's historic old city as one of the Mideast's most repressive regimes sought to put down demonstrations that exploded nationwide Friday demanding reform.

Police in Hamburg shut down the notorious al-Quds mosque, renamed the Taiba mosque in 2008, led by German-Syrian national and voluntary imam Mamoun Darkazanli. Darkazanli (a.k.a. Abu Ilyas al-Suri) has been a suspected al-Qaeda operative, primarily as a financier and logistician, in the European Union for close to two decades. Long active in al-Qaeda circles, Darkazanli first surfaced on the radar of Western intelligence agencies when he purportedly helped procure a cargo ship named “Jennifer” for Osama bin Laden as early as 1993 (Hamburger Abendblatt, October 16, 2004). Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt (BKA- Federal Criminal Police Office) admitted that it had been...

Iran's secret pipeline into the U.S. J.J. Green, wtop.com WASHINGTON - Iran Air 744 is a bimonthly flight that originates in Tehran and flies directly to Caracas with periodic stops in Beirut and Damascus. The maiden flight was Feb. 2, 2007. The mere existence of the flight was a significant concern for U.S. intelligence officials, but now a broader concern is who and what are aboard the flights. "If you [a member of the public] tried to book yourself a seat on this flight and it doesn't matter whether it's a week before, a month before, six months before --...

Syria has sought to overcome U.S. sanctions on the regime of President Bashar Assad and so, apparently, has the Obama administration. The State Department said it has detected Syrian efforts to bypass U.S. sanctions imposed on Damascus over the last decade. In a report, the department's inspector-general said the U.S. embassy foiled several of these Syrian attempts. "The United States also was able to thwart several Syrian attempts to evade sanctions, thanks to timely embassy warnings," the report, titled "Report of Inspection," said. But the State Department also said U.S. enforcement of sanctions on Syria has been muddled under the...

The Return of Bin Laden’s Daughter 20/03/2010 By Tariq Alhomayed Finally, Iman Bin Laden is back with her mother who accompanied her daughter to Damascus after many difficult years spent in Iran where Iman lived in a residential compound in Tehran under tight security until she was able to escape and seek refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran in search of help. A new life has been ordained for Iman.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday reiterated his view that Jerusalem must enter peace talks with Damascus in the near future, prefacing his message with a warning to Syria not to make a military gamble against Israel. “I’ve heard some statements about Syria. I do not recommend to any neighboring country, including Syria, to put us to the test. Having said that, I do believe a genuine negotiation with Syria is one of Israel interests. I keep on calling on [Syrian President Bashar] Assad – we all understand what’s on the table and the time is now,” Barak said during...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took a major step toward improving strained ties with Syria on Tuesday, announcing his intention to reappoint a U.S. ambassador to Damascus after a five-year absence. The White House said Obama had nominated career diplomat Robert Ford to the post. The nomination must still be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The United States withdrew its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 after the assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Syria's foes in Lebanon accused Damascus of involvement, a charge Syria denied.

•The rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus is only the culmination of the increasingly problematic policies pursued by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). •Two factors in particular seem to have led to Turkey's shift away from Israel and toward Syria. First, Turkey no longer needed Israeli assistance to pressure the Syrian government to change its policy of providing safe-haven to the terrorist Kurdish Worker's Organization (PKK). Second, in the past seven years, once secular Turkish politics have undergone a profound Islamist transformation. •At the same time, the dynamic between the Turkish military and the state's civilian leadership has changed....

Syria is training Hizbullah to operate a Soviet-origin air defense system according to regional news reports. The Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported that Syria provided Hizbullah with SA-2 surface-to-air missile systems for operations against Israel. On Jan. 17, the Kuwaiti newspaper, quoting a senior U.S. official, said Israel has warned Syria not to grant the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah access to the SA-2. "War will erupt in the forseeable future between Lebanon and Israel unless Syria agrees to additional red lines," the U.S. official told Al Rai, a newspaper believed used by Israel and the United States to relay messages to the...

An American source says that Syria allowed Hezbollah operatives to train within its territory in the use of advanced SA2 anti-aircraft missile batteries, the Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported Sunday. In an interview, the senior U.S. official warned that if Syria supplies Hezbollah with this type of missile, Israel will bomb Damascus and a war will likely ensue. According to the official, Israel has warned Syria not to allow the transfer of the SA2 missiles into the hands of Hezbollah, and views the transfer of such missiles as the crossing of a red line.

If Israel were to attack Hizbullah in Lebanon, Syria would respond and not sit idly by, the Katari Al Watan newspaper quoted Syrian sources as saying in a report published Wednesday. The sources reportedly added that Damascus considered any threat to Lebanon's security and stability as a threat to Syria's security. The paper reported that Damascus was worriedly taking notice of "Israeli deployment and maneuvers along the northern border," and that Syrian leadership assessed Israel was planning a military operation in Lebanon in May. US officials have notified the Lebanese government that if it does not manage to unarm Hizbullah,...

For the last five years, satellite photos have shown continuing constructing of an underground bunker complex north of Damascus, Syria, This is believed to be the control center for the national air defense system. Progress has been slow because Syria is broke and unable to pay for the new missile systems that that the people in this underground complex would control. Earlier this year, Russia suspended its program to upgrade Syria's MiG-31 fighters. In 2007, Russia and Syria signed an agreement by which Russia would provide the country with seven MiG-31 aircraft, as well as equipment and services to upgrade...

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Damascus the World's Most Dangerous Destination! By Bill Salus According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, tourism in Israel has steadily declined in 2009 in comparison to 2008. There appears to be a developing concern among would be “holy land” travelers that a major Mideast war involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and others is inevitable and soon to happen. In a semi-related area, Israel’s concerns are further fueled by the genuine possibility that immigration into Israel will come to a complete halt the minute Iran possesses its own nuclear weapon. Ephraim Sneh, the former...