Free Republic

Syrian government resigns: state television Photo 8:44am EDT DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted the resignation of the government on Tuesday, Syrian state television said. "President Assad accepts the government's resignation," an announcement on state television said.

(1) LA Times Blog, "SYRIA: President Bashar Assad says Iran supported indirect Israel talks, denies Scud claims...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is known to have a penchant for brinksmanship. Calculating that he has nothing to fear from a timid Obama administration, he is upping the ante in his direct military support to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The latest brazen act may involve the shipment of Syrian Scud D missiles to his Shia allies. Assad’s move appears to have followed his recent tripartite summit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. It also comes after numerous reports in recent months about a steady increase in the quantity and quality of Syrian-supplied weapons to Hezbollah –...

DAMASCUS: Syria’s Pre-sident Bashar al-Assad has won a second seven-year mandate after netting 97% of the vote in a referendum boycotted by the opposition, officials announced yesterday. Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majid said Assad, 41, won a massive 97.62% in Sunday’s referendum, with some 11.19mn Syrians taking part, or almost 96% of those eligible. In a referendum in which Assad, who has resisted Western pressure to reform Syria, was the sole candidate, “no” voters numbered almost 20,000 and some 250,000 ballots were void, he said.

Middle East Newsline reports that on his recent trip to Moscow, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad received briefings on the technical specifications and potential applications of one of Russia’s most effective air- and missile defense systems: the S-300PMU2. The reason for Assad’s interest in the advanced weaponry appears to be the need for expanded deterrence against Israel. "Syria wants a strategic air defense system that would present a major threat to Israeli warplanes," a source has told the news agency. "I think Assad will buy and deploy the S-300 over the next few months."

Contact Bill: office locations Senator Nelson has eight offices throughout Florida and one in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. United States Senate 716 Senate Hart Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-5274 Fax: 202-228-2183Orlando Landmark Two 225 East Robinson Street, Ste 410 Orlando, Florida 32801 Phone: 407-872-7161 Toll Free in Florida: 1-888-671-4091 Fax: 407-872-7165Miami-Dade 2925 Salzedo Street Coral Gables, FL 33134 Phone: 305-536-5999 Telephone Fax: 305-536-5991Tampa Sam Gibbons Federal Court House 801 N. Florida Ave., 4th Floor Tampa, Florida 33602 Phone: 813-225-7040 Fax: 813-225-7050West Palm Beach 500 Australian Avenue Suite 125 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Phone: 561-514-0189 Fax: 561-514-4078Tallahassee...

US Senator Bill Nelson met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, a week after a US bipartisan panel recommended the Bush administration engage Syria to help stabilize Iraq. Nelson, a Democrat, was named to the Senate Intelligence Committee this week and said he was on a fact-finding mission to the region. He left later for Amman, Jordan.

The U.S. Congress has apparently hired Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (aka "Beaker" the Muppet) to help keep order in the balcony.

Israeli security Cabinet led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided the military campaign in south Lebanon would not be expanded, and any modifications to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation, such as deploying more troops, would require Cabinet approval. Israel is essentially broadcasting to the world that its political and military circles are severely divided over the current operation, and it might have no choice but to cave in to diplomatic pressure to put an end to the fighting and draw up a cease-fire. This might not be true to Israeli thinking, but it is certainly a message they are...

The United States should conduct military strikes against Hezbollah and Hamas facilities in the Middle East before engaging in any military action against Iraq, the leaders of an influential US Senate committee demanded Sunday. Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham and his Republican counterpart, Richard Shelby, made their recommendation amid increasing concern among member of the US intelligence community that if faced with certain downfall, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could hand over weapons of mass destruction to regional terrorist groups. "Against those international terrorists such as Hezbollah and Hamas, we need to be launching attacks on their headquarters and...

Can anyone post this photo next to the Muppets character who works with the scientist, I think his name is "Beaker"...

Faced with the threat of United Nations' sanctions, Syria has launched its own investigation into the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik al-Hariri. The inquiry has been ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It will question Syrian civilians and military personnel and cooperate with a UN inquiry that has implicated senior Syrian officials in the February 14 assassination. Detlev Mehlis, who is leading the UN investigation into Mr Hariri's murder, urged Syria at a Security Council meeting earlier this week to set up its own probe and to cooperate fully with international investigators. Syria has denied any role in...

Tony Blair has refused to rule out imposing sanctions against Syria over the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister. A United Nations report has suggested Syrian involvement in the death of Rafik Hariri in February. Mr Blair said there could be no more serious crime than trying to destroy the democracy of another country. Asked on Sky News about sanctions, he said: "I don't think you rule anything out in going forward." 'Must be dealt with' Mr Blair added that the assassination was a "very, very serious issue". "If there is any implication at all, as indeed there is in...

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- The name al-Ahbash, recently mentioned in the media in connection to the UN investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, refers to The Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in Lebanon which was founded by A Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Hirari, nicknamed “al Habashi”, referring to his Ethiopian origin. Born in the city of al Hirara , near Somalia , al Hirari settled in Lebanon in 1950 where he taught religious studies and cultivated a personal following. Maintaining strong relations with the Syrian government, the groups leader, Nizar al Halabi was killed...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The son and political heir of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Saturday called for an international tribunal to try his father's killers after a U.N. probe implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials. Lebanese security officials, meanwhile, said police had arrested an Islamic fundamentalist in connection with the assassination _ the first since chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis released his findings into the investigation of Feb. 14 killing of Hariri in a Beirut car bombing. Saad Hariri, the former premier's son and a Lebanese legislator, made the appeal two days after Mehlis handed his report...

DAMASCUS — Syria on Saturday pledged to cooperate with the international community even as it rejected a U.N. report on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri that implicated top Syrian figures. The report accused Syria of blocking and misleading the four-month-long investigation into the February bomb blast that killed Hariri and 20 others on the Beirut seafront, and raised the threat of international sanctions. "The report was influenced by the political climate that prevailed in Lebanon after the (Hariri) assassination, and it is based on preconceived ideas that led to accusatory and slanderous conclusions against Syria without...

UN Gives Green Light for Israel, Syria, Iran WarBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----October 21......Israel has been living in a state of war with Syria for decades. Living under the constant threat of missile attacks from both Syria and Lebanon territory hour after passing hour. This tiny, democratic Jewish state has reached out for peace time and time again. Syria responded with Katusha rocket terror attacks across the Israel Lebanon border and the planning of Islamic terrorism inside both Israel and Lebanon. Now the UN has provided clear proof that Syria has been an open aggressor in the Middle-East...

By JAMES RISEN WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 — As American soldiers massed on the Iraqi border in March and diplomats argued about war, an influential adviser to the Pentagon received a secret message from a Lebanese-American businessman: Saddam Hussein wanted to make a deal. Iraqi officials, including the chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had told the businessman that they wanted Washington to know that Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction, and they offered to allow American troops and experts to conduct an independent search. They also offered to hand over a man accused of being involved in the...

After almost three decades of occupation, Syrian troops exited Lebanon in April 2005. International pressure for Syrian withdrawal resulted from a cascading series of Syrian miscalculations. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's August 2004 decision to force an extended term for Lebanon's sitting president galvanized the opposition. Misreading the international atmosphere paved the way for escalating diplomatic sanctions. The February 14, 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri caused anti-Syrian sentiment to boil over. The decision will have as profound an impact upon Syria as Lebanon. Command of Lebanon has long been fundamental to Syrian regional prestige and the Syrian regime's...

DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar Assad met with a top U.N. envoy Sunday amid accusations that Syria has not fully withdrawn its intelligence operatives from Lebanon and was perhaps even organizing political assassinations. U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who met with Assad for two hours, left the country without commenting on the outcome of the talks. The government also had no comment. In a statement issued in Beirut, Lebanon, U.N. spokesman Nejib Friji said Roed-Larsen discussed with Assad "all relevant issues and they will continue their dialogue." Roed-Larsen planned to brief U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the talks when they meet...