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Last week, Syria test fired two Scud type ballistic missiles. The guidance systems on both of them were not working properly. One of the missiles landed in the market place of a village near the Turkish border, killing twenty people and injuring at least sixty. At first, the government said it was a natural gas explosion, but the truth soon came out (it's kind of hard to hide the missile debris, and a Scud impact is quite different from a natural gas explosion.)

20 Killed in Failed Syrian Scud Missile Test by Hana Levi Julian (IsraelNN.com) At least 20 Syrian civilians were killed and 60 were wounded in a failed missile test in May, Japan's Kyodo News reported Friday. The test involved two updated Scud missiles developed together by Syria, North Korea and Iran. Both exhibited defective guidance systems, according to a Middle Eastern military source quoted in the report. One of the short-range ballistic missiles hit a market near the Syrian-Turkish border, causing dozens of civilian casualties. Syrian forces attributed the blast to a gas explosion and blocked off the site to...

Twenty Syrians were killed and over 60 injured in a failed Scud missile test carried out by Syria, Iran and North Korea in May One of two missiles had apparently strayed off its course due to a technical malfunction, landing in a civilian populated area.

Unlike the United States, where the relationship between the media and the government is unofficial, in Arab thugacricies like Syria the government directly and officially controls what appears in the media, so when you read something in the Syrian media, its as if it came directly from the government. According to MEMRI, this is the kind of hat that the Syrian Government it teaching its people: In an article titled "What We Should Know About Hitler and the Jews," published June 15, 2009 in the Syrian government daily Teshreen, author Nasr Shimali explains that the Holocaust was part of a...

The U.S. will press Syria to resume talks with Israel when a delegation of top security officials arrives Wednesday in Damascus, according to a Syrian source quoted by Reuters. American and Syrian security officials will also reportedly discuss arrangements on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The United States has demanded that Syria step up security along the border to prevent infiltration into Iraq. One of the members of the delegation includes State Department official Frederick Hoff, who is responsible for bridging the gap on territorial dispute between Israel and Syria, which are still officially at war. Negotiations between the two countries have...

Syria is experiencing an economic holocaust. There is no other way to describe what the Syrian regime is so much trying to hide. The country is drying up, and no less than 250,000 farmers were forced in the past three years to abandon their land and migrate to the large cities. They live in tents there, completely neglected by the regime. These figures appeared in a special study undertaken by the United Nations and published on the al-Arabiya website. The immense Euphrates River, Syria’s main source of water, is drying up. The Turks are stopping its water in their territory,...

The letter U.S. President Barack Obama sent to Syrian President Bashar Assad offered “cooperation and the opening of a new page between the two nations,” the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar reported over the weekend. The letter was three pages long, according to a senior Lebanese diplomat who had visited Damascus. The diplomat said the letter referred to the situation in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the Syrians reacted positively and expressed a desire for cooperation with the U.S... The United States has alerted Syrian diplomats that America has decided to lift various embargos against Syria, with more suspensions of...

A senior Arabic diplomat in Beirut said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received , a few days ago , a personal letter from President Barack Obama has not disclosed . Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar reported that the letter is composed of "three pages, dealing with bilateral relations between the two countries and the pursuit of its development and the latest developments in the region, where Obama expressed his willingness to cooperate with Syria, Damascus has responded to the letter, according to diplomatic source. " Diplomatic sources revealed that the U.S. president's visit to Syria has become a serious question that might...

Russian Yakhont Missile to deploy on Syria's Coastline? Posted by Sean Meade at 8/5/2009 10:40 AM CDT David Eshel writes The recent delivery of an advanced Russian-made anti-ship missile to Iran has Israeli defense officials concerned it will be transferred to Syria and Hizbullah and used against the Israel Navy in a future conflict. According to media reports, the P-800 Yakhont, the supersonic cruise missile can be launched from the coast and hit sea-borne targets up to 300 kilometers away. The missile carries a 200-kilogram warhead and flies a meter-and-a-half above sea level, making it extremely difficult to intercept. The...

Italian newspaper says plane crash north of Tehran which left 168 people dead was caused by explosion of fuses slated to be delivered to Lebanese organization. According to report, members of Revolutionary Guards among casualties 08.02.09 / Israel News An Iranian plane crash two weeks ago – which left 168 people dead – was caused by the explosion of sophisticated fuses slated to be delivered to Hezbollah, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Saturday, quoting sources in the Middle East. According to the report, the pilot of the Tupolev plane, which was making its way from Tehran to Armenia, sent...

Hizbullah has enjoyed an enviable run of political and military "achievements" including its "divine victory" over Israel in 2006, the "glorious day" in May 2008 when it occupied Beirut, and securing diplomatic recognition by Britain in April 2009. More recently the Lebanese Shiite militia has been dealt a series of setbacks including defeat in the Lebanese elections, the arrest of an Egypt-based Hizbullah cell, reports of the group's involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, the apprehension of a Hizbullah cell plotting to bomb the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, and the post-election protests in Iran that...

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Obama administration gave Middle East envoy George Mitchell a treat to bring to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad when Mitchell stopped off in Damascus on Sunday: a presidential fiat will ease sanctions on Syria. According to the Journal, “the U.S. decision targets spare aircraft parts, information-technology products and telecommunications equipment, sales of which have been restricted by U.S. sanctions on Syria enacted in 2004.” All of which is very nice for the Assad family and Alawite-minority business that runs that country, while it helps their ally Iran export terrorism via Hamas and Hezbollah...

The Obama team has lifted a ban on the sale of some high-tech equipment to Syria. A recognized state sponsor of terrorism. WSJ reports: "The Obama administration has told Syria that it will work to ease U.S. sanctions against Damascus, as Washington intensifies its pursuit of détente with a longtime Middle East rival." [As Obama intensifies his efforts to legitimize a dictatorial state sponsor of terrorism, having just recently decided to return a U.S. ambassador] "The U.S. decision targets spare aircraft parts, information-technology products and telecommunications equipment, sales of which have been restricted by U.S. sanctions on Syria enacted in...

TEL AVIV – The U.S. will seek sanctions waivers to export aircraft and other equipment to Syria, U.S. officials confirmed today. Syria is in an open military alliance with Iran. It hosts the chiefs of several major Palestinian terrorist organizations. The country is accused of aiding the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yesterday, Imad Mustafa, the Syrian envoy to the U.S., said the Obama administration had lifted a ban imposed in 2004 on exporting goods to the Syrian Aviation Industry. He said the message was delivered to Syrian President Bashar Assad by George Mitchell, Obama's envoy to...

The United States has told Syria that it will reduce trade restrictions towards Damascus, which were imposed five years ago for supporting organized terror against Israel. Washington has confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has sent letters to Arab heads of state to push them for confidence-building measures towards Israel. Syria and Israel are officially at war. Negotiations between the two countries have been mediated by Turkey throughout the years. However, at the crux of the dispute is the final status of the Golan, which Israel conquered in 1967 after it was attacked by Syria. White House press secretary Robert...

Imad Mustafa, the Syrian envoy to the US, said Monday that the Obama administration had lifted the ban imposed on exporting goods to the Syrian Aviation Industry, the Kuwait News Agency reported. Speaking on Syrian national television, Mustafa revealed that the US had also lifted the ban on exporting IT products, whether they were hardware or software, adding that US President Barack Obama was considering lifting more such restrictions.

(IsraelNN.com) The United States has alerted Syrian diplomats that America has decided to lift various embargos against Syria, with more suspensions of embargos on the way. Dr. Imad Mustafa, Syria's ambassador to Washington, told Syrian television Sunday that U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama has suspended several articles of the U.S. sanction against Syria, with more suspensions to come, according to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy will expand and modernize its Soviet-era naval maintenance site near Tartus in Syria to support anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, a high-ranking navy source said on Monday. About 50 naval personnel and three berthing floats are currently deployed at the Tartus site, which can accommodate up to a dozen warships. "Two tug boats from the Black Sea Fleet will deliver a new berthing float to Tartus," the source said. "Following modernization, the Russian naval maintenance site in Tartus will become fully-operational," he added. The Navy maintenance site near Tartus is...

It turns out that there are second acts in international politics. Four years after the Bush administration severed diplomatic relations with Syria, in the aftermath of the Damascus regime’s suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the unofficial member of the “axis of evil” has received a warmer reception from the Bush administration’s successor. President Obama has expressed his intention to engage Syria, and the administration took a decisive step in that direction last month when it announced plans to send an ambassador to the country. But as the U.S. prepares to engage the Assad...

It turns out that there are second acts in international politics. Four years after the Bush administration severed diplomatic relations with Syria, in the aftermath of the Damascus regime’s suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the unofficial member of the “axis of evil” has received a warmer reception from the Bush administration’s successor. President Obama has expressed his intention to engage Syria, and the administration took a decisive step in that direction last month when it announced plans to send an ambassador to the country. But as the U.S. prepares to engage the Assad...

DAMASCUS, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Mideast envoy Alexander Sultanov on Sunday called on Israel to stop building all kinds of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. He made the appeal when meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem here on Sunday. After their talks, Sultanov told reporters that he and Moallem discussed the prospect of convening Moscow Mideast Peace Conference, bilateral relations, Mideast peace process and various regional issues. The stances of Russia and Syria are close on most regional and international issues, Sultanov said. On Saturday, the Russian deputy foreign minister met in...

Sources say White House cadre bypassing agencies, jeopardizing security JERUSALEM – A small group of officials working mostly from the White House are tightly controlling U.S. foreign policy, bypassing other government agencies and making decisions without employing the expertise of those agencies, according to diplomatic sources speaking to WND. The sources said some of the decisions may be jeopardizing U.S. security. A senior Middle East diplomatic source said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently apologized to a Mideast leader, explaining to him U.S. policy regarding his country is being dictated by the White House and not her agency. The diplomatic...

U.S. President Barack Obama stated that the United States and Syria began diplomatic contacts between them. However, he emphasized that he expects a long way ahead for the two countries. In an interview on the British Sky News TV channel to be broadcast Sunday, Obama didn’t explicitly state whether he would accept an invitation from Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. When asked whether he would accept Assad’s invitation for face-to-face negotiations, Obama said, “Well, you know I think that we've started to see some diplomatic contacts between the United States and Syria. There are aspects of Syrian behavior that trouble us...

IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sarcastically agreed with President Shimon Peres’s statement Monday that Israel will not hand over the strategic Golan Heights to Damascus on a “silver platter.” He responded Tuesday morning that “silver” was not good enough and demanded, "We want to receive the Golan on a gold platter.” Powered by WebAds His comments have sent the prospects of a rapprochement with Syria further back in the deep freeze as Syria increasingly hardens its stand in tandem with overtures from the Obama administration to make it part of the peace process.

BEIRUT: Days after officials in Washington announced that a US ambassador would soon be sent to Syria, reports have emerged of an upcoming Syrian-Saudi Arabian summit to be held in Damascus that could include Lebanon. Conventional wisdom holds that any improvement in Syrian-Saudi ties generally contributes to increased stability in Lebanon, and according to experts on Levantine politics, Lebanon may already be benefiting from those nations' thawing ties and a revamped US policy in the region. "Any relief or stabilization in the Syrian-Saudi relationship will be positively reflected in the Lebanese political life," Chafik Masri, an international law professor at...

Syria's first lady has put out the welcome mat for the Obamas, a further sign that the once frosty relations between the two nations is thawing. In an interview with Britain's Sky News, Asma al Assad envisioned her husband, Bashar, and Barack Obama joining forces. "The fact is President Obama is young," al Assad said, "and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world." Asma was born in London and moved to Damascus after marrying Bashar al Assad nine years ago. Last week, the...

EIRUT – Syria's leader sent a July 4 message full of praise to President Barack Obama on Friday and invited him to visit Syria — the latest signs Damascus is hedging its bets in Mideast politics, warming up to its rival the United States at a time when its longtime ally Iran is in turmoil.

LONDON - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he would be willing to meet US President Barack Obama in Syria to discuss Middle East peace efforts, in a British television interview. “We would like to welcome him in Syria, definitely. I am very clear about this,” Assad told Sky News. Asked whether this could happen soon, the president said: “That depends on him. “I will ask you to convey the invitation to him,” he told the news channel in the brief interview broadcast Thursday. Assad’s outreach comes as Washington tries to engage with its former foe after President George W. Bush...

It has been confirmed across the board that 18-wheelers were seen going into Syria before the war, crossing the border soon after Iraqi intelligence replaced the border guards and cleared nearby areas for their passage. There are also eyewitness reports of the trucks going into Syria, and eyewitness reports of their burial in Lebanon. The trucks with the weapons were tracked to three locations in Syria and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, currently controlled by the Syrians, Iranians, and Hezbollah. Sources I've spoken with that have seen satellite photos of the movements confirm that the WMD in Syria are at military bases,...

Syria's First Lady has exclusively told Sky News she would welcome the Obamas to Damascus. Asma al Assad's comments are the latest in a series of signs US Syrian relations are improving after years of tension. "The fact is President Obama is young," she said, "and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world". And she gladly envisioned welcoming Michelle Obama and her husband in a presidential palace in Damascus in the near future. "I can see myself hosting them in Damascus in the...

According to Aaron Klein of WND, President Obama is strongly considering appointing his former Middle East adviser, Daniel Kurtzer, as U.S. ambassador to Syria, according to Syrian diplomatic sources: Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, long has been seen in Jerusalem as one of the Jewish state's greatest foes in Washington. He has been identified by Jewish and Israeli leaders, including prime ministers speaking on the record, as biased against Israel, and is notorious for urging extreme concessions from the Jewish state. Kurtzer came under fire last summer when he traveled to Damascus where he reportedly urged Syrian officials...

Even though most of his friends and relatives have left, Albert Cameo says he will never abandon Syria. "My family has always been here," said Cameo, 68, a retired tailor and president of Syria's estimated 200-member Jewish community. "It's important for some of us to stay here to keep our traditions." Most Jewish Syrians left in waves after the creation of Israel in 1948 and the enactment of harsh Syrian laws barring them from owning property, withdrawing funds from bank accounts and traveling. "If they had let Jews go back and forth, no one would have left," said Joey Allaham,...

Syrian officials reiterated their threat to forcefully take the Golan Heights from Israel unless an agreement between the two countries is reached soon. During a ceremony Saturday inaugurating a new communications center in Kuneitra, the Syrian town closest to the border with Israel, the Syrian Committee for the Liberation of the Golan threatened to take practical measures to return the Golan to Syrian control, adding that Israel was not showing any willingness to negotiate the return of the territory in peace talks. Syrian President Bashar Assad was also present at the ceremony. Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said that the...

The ringleader of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro ship will be expelled from Italy to Syria, the Associated Press reports. Youssef Magied al-Molqui has served only 23 years of his 30-year jail sentence for his role in the hijacking and murder of wheelchair-bound Jewish passenger Leon Klinghoffer. Italy’s Attorney General Gianfranco Pagano said that Molqui was to be flown on Saturday from his holding cell in Sicily to Rome and then onto Damascus. Molqui's claim that he should not be expelled due to his marriage to an Italian citizen was rejected by an Italian court. Nor did his...

BEIRUT (AFP) – Saad Hariri, son of slain billionaire ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, pledged to form a cabinet that would unite rival political camps after he was named Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday. "We will begin consultations with all parliamentary blocs based on our commitment to a national unity government in which all main blocs are represented and which is harmonious, functional, and free of obstruction and paralysis," Hariri said. Under the current unity government, headed by Fuad Siniora, militant group Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions. The government was formed in May 2008, ending a...

N.Korea 'Helping Burma with WMD'North Korea is helping Burma with the acquisition of so-called weapons of mass destruction, with the U.S. claiming that the North Korean ship Kangnam is headed for the Southeast Asian country. The Burmese junta "has bought technologies on the open market that are potentially usable in a nuclear program, and North Korean arms companies involved in the nuclear trade have become active" in Burma, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said quoting speculation by U.S., Asian and UN officials. "North Korea has used [Burmese] ports and airstrips to transfer arms and contraband to third countries, including...

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is examining a proposed Israeli-Syrian peace plan that is based on demilitarizing the Golan Heights and transforming it, along with a strip of the Jordan Valley, into a nature preserve, or "peace park," that would be open to visitors during the day. The decision to send an American ambassador to Damascus after a four-year absence, along with the recent visit to the Syrian capital by U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, were meant to prepare the ground for a resumption of Israeli-Syrian talks under American auspices. A senior diplomatic source told Haaretz yesterday that Washington...

In a slap in the face to Iran's revolution, US restoring ambassador to Syria Very few countries have recognized the results of Iran's sham elections nearly two weeks ago as legitimate. Venezuela has. So has Bolivia. And so has Syria, Iran's closest ally in the Arab world. Until now, the Obama administration has been standoffish in its attitude to the Iranian election and the protests against its results. But now, it has come out on the side of the Iranian regime: It has chosen the current situation to announce that it is 'engaging' with Iran's ally Bashar al-Assad by returning...

U.S. President Barack Obama is resuming diplomatic ties with Syria after a four-year hiatus as he aims for a regional peace in the Middle East. Syrian President Bashar Assad has conditioned peace with Israel on its regaining sovereignty of the strategic Golan Heights. Slightly more than half of the population on the Golan comprises Jews, and most of the remainder are Druze. Israeli Foreign Minister spokesman Andy David told Israel National News Wednesday morning that the move by the U.S. is part of President Obama’s policies of “talking with the enemy” and that the issue of the Golan Heights is...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama has decided to send a U.S. ambassador back to Syria, a dramatic sign of reconciliation between the two countries, senior administration officials tell CNN. The announcement is expected to be made this week. "It's in our interests to have an ambassador in Syria, a senior administration official told CNN Tuesday night. "We have been having more and more discussions and we need to have someone there to engage."

NEW YORK — An FBI official says a notorious terrorist suspected of aiding the insurgency in Iraq will be added to the agency's list of its most wanted terrorists. The official said Monday that an FBI committee recommended this month that 73-year-old Palestinian Abu Ibrahim be placed on the list. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision wasn't official. An investigation by The Associated Press had revealed the terrorist was still alive and had fled to Syria. Ibrahim has been indicted in the 1982 bombing of Pam Am Flight 830. The explosion killed a 16-year-old boy and...

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Blog Details Syrian Journalists To Train At Al-Jazeera Qatari Culture Minister Hamad ibn Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Kuwari has responded to a request by Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal to have Syrian journalists train at the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV. At a June 17 meeting between the two in Damascus, Bilal said that his country was interested in utilizing the experience of the Al-Jazeera training center. Source: Teshreen, Syria, June 18, 2009 Posted at: 2009-06-19

On June 5, the IAEA reported that new traces of uranium had been discovered at a suspected nuclear site in Syria. As the U.S. tries to get the international community to stop Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, Syria is acting as a critical link in the WMD alliance of the remaining Axis of Evil members. The programs in Iran and North Korea could be temporarily shut down, but so long as Syria acts as a satellite station for their activities, their capabilities will continue to grow. The IAEA report stated that the uranium traces recently found in...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA – Former President Jimmy Carter Thursday reiterated that there can be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians without involving the militant group Hamas. His comments came shortly before he met with the militant group's Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal. Carter met with Mashaal twice under the Bush administration, angering some in the U.S. government who said he was legitimizing a group the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. But this was his first meeting under the Obama administration, which has launched a fresh quest for peace in the Middle East, and came as Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, was...

Anti-Maronite Lebanon's Maronites make up the largest Christian community in the country - a community where religion and politics are inextricably mixed. The Maronites, linked culturally and politically to the West, favored teir own continue rule, Lebanese nationalism, and a Western-oriented foreign policy. Sunni Muslims favored Pan-Arabism and were often friendly to Nasir and Syria [source], so was its armed wing the Phalangist's early stance, pro-Western and opposed to Pan-Arabism [source] in the 1970s, the Maronite bloc showed some degree of unity in opposing pan-Arabism, (although recently some have split and allied themselves with Hezbollah and became anti-American) [source]. Any...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An anti-Syrian coalition, known as "March 14," defeated the "March 8" alliance composed of Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon's parliamentary election on Sunday, politicians on both sides said. Following is reaction from Lebanese politicians: HEZBOLLAH MP, HASSAN FADLALLAH We consider that Lebanon is ruled by partnership and whatever the results of the elections are, we cannot change the standing delicate balances or repeat the experiences of the past which led to catastrophes on Lebanon and showed the inability of one party monopolizing power. Whoever wants political stability, the preservation of national unity and the resurrection of...

Breaking with its practice of issuing laconic one or two-line reactions to reports about Iran's nuclear progress, Jerusalem responded Saturday to the most recent International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran, which said Iran continued to expand its uranium enrichment program despite three sets of UN Security Council sanctions meant to pressure Teheran into freezing such activities. "The report on Iran again reveals grave findings about intensified uranium enrichment in Iran, thereby violating UN Security Council resolutions, and also other actions which it is possible to connect to a military nuclear program," the statement, issued by the Israel Atomic Energy...

The UN watchdog agency on nuclear activity has found that Iran has significantly stepped up its nuclear program, and also suspects Syria of secretly operating its own nuclear program. Iran has increased its output of uranium with almost 5,000 centrifuges operating, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated in a report Friday. According to the report obtained by the Reuters news agency, Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium, boosting its stockpile by 500 kilograms to 1,339 kilograms in the past six months.

BARACK OBAMA’S special envoy to the Middle East is to visit Syria this week after the president said “the moment is now” to push for peace. Former senator George Mitchell’s expected visit follows a fortnight’s intensive diplomatic wooing of Syria in the hope of splintering its alliance with Iran. There has been no official confirmation of Mitchell’s trip, but one State Department official said he was “95% sure” that Syria was on the itinerary: “The president is committed to comprehensive peace. The initiative follows Obama’s ground-breaking speech last week in Cairo, which impressed his audience but left the Arab world...

"More undeclared uranium discovered in Syria" SNIPPET: "International Atomic Energy Agency finds traces of processed uranium at second site in Syria, leading to fears of covert nuclear activity" Reuters Published: 06.05.09, 21:56 / Israel News SNIPPET: "The UN nuclear watchdog has discovered traces of processed uranium at a second site in Syria, the agency said on Friday, heightening concern about possible undeclared atomic activity in the Arab state. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been examining U.S. intelligence reports that Syria almost built a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor meant to yield weapons-grade plutonium before Israel bombed it to rubble in...