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Damascus official says Maher Assad 'has absconded' Syria and his whereabouts are unknown Elior Levy Published: 12.29.11, 16:50 / Israel News Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother Maher Assad may be missing, several Arab media outlets reported on Thursday that the younger Assad has not been seen in quite some time. Damascus MP Khaled Daher was quoted as saying that Maher Assad had "absconded Syria." "Whether he is injured and is being treated away from the limelight, or Bashar Assad is keeping him away from the military operations – we don’t know," he told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa. Lieutenant Colonel Maher...

12/13/2011 20:04 Detained officials had invited Iran's supreme leader to visit weapons depot same day as explosion, Al Arabiya reports. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamenei has ordered the arrest of a number of senior members of the Revolutionary Guards he suspects of planning to assassinate him, pan-Arab news Channel Al Arabiya reported Tuesday. Khamenei demanded an investigation of the detainees, "and others," about the alleged assassination plot, an "informed source in Iran" told the Emirati news station.

TEHRAN | Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:21am EST TEHRAN (Reuters) - A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practice its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world, but there was no official confirmation. The legislator, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news agency ISNA: "Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure." Contacted...

The Syrian regime, which has endured nine months of civil unrest spurred by the Arab Spring as it swept across the Middle East, has armed its medium-range missile arsenal with chemical warheads. According to a report published by the Sabah daily Sunday, Damascus armed 600 one-ton chemical warheads to use in the event of a foreign military intervention. Furthermore, President Bashar al-Assad ordered the deployment of 21 missile launchers along its border with Turkey. Syria’s medium-range missiles that can be equipped with chemical warheads have a range of up to 1,300 kilometers and would include the southern and central provinces...

Closure of foreign schools in Tehran prompts fears among Iranians 12.05.11 Growing panic in Iran? International schools in Iran have shut their doors after hardline students stormed the British embassy last week, stoking ordinary Iranians' fears that foreigners are about to pull out of the Islamic Republic ahead of a US or Israeli-led attack. Protesters stormed and ransacked Britain's two diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, prompting Britain to evacuate its staff from the country and expel Iranian diplomats from London. The French school in Tehran is located on British embassy grounds and children were in class when the mob...

The Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chief said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might start a war with Israel in order to save his regime if he feels it is about to fall. "The closer the Assad regime in Syria gets to death's door, the bigger the threat against Israel becomes," the Jerusalem Post cited Shaul Mofaz as saying Monday. "It can be reasonably assumed that in the twilight of his rule, Assad will try to deflect attention from the massacre of his own people by starting a conflict with Israel.”

Damascus, 1 Dec. (AKI) - Dozens of officials from North Korea and Iran have conducted meetings with representatives of the Syrian government in Damascus to help president Bashar al-Assad obtain weapons following the implementation of sanctions by members of the Arab League and other countries. The meetings have been taking place in recent days, and were attended by experts in the production of rockets, according to Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah, citing unnamed intelligence sources. "The Syrian regime is afraid of losing power so is asking help from these two allies to put in place whatever means are necessary, even if it...

BEIRUT - Royal Dutch Shell said on Friday it would cease operations in Syria to heed new European Union sanctions against Damascus, deepening the international isolation of President Bashar al-Assad imposed over his violent crackdown on popular unrest. In the latest bloodshed, Syrian army defectors killed eight Air Force intelligence personnel in an attack on their base in the north of the country, according to an opposition group.

The Times reported on Wednesday that the mysterious explosion that rocked the city of Isfahan two days ago struck the uranium conversion facility located just outside Iran's third-largest city. According to the British newspaper, satellite images clearly show billowing smoke and destruction, despite Iran's claim that no such blast had taken place. The Times quoted Israeli intelligence officials as saying there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident."

'Huge explosion' heard in Iranian city Isfahan, Fars news agency reports - @BBCWorld eom

November 23, 2011 02:58 PM The Daily Star BEIRUT: The U.S. Embassy in Damascus issued a warning to its citizens Wednesday, urging its citizens to leave on the last remaining commercial flights from Syria. "The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," read the email statement that was issued to the American community in Syria. "The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights," the statement added.

Hezbollah personnel prevent Lebanese security forces from arriving at scene of blast in Siddiqin; UNIFIL says it will investigate incident. A explosion occurred overnight in the Hezbollah stronghold of Siddiqin in southern Lebanon. The blast apparently occurred at a large Hezbollah weapons depot. The explosion took place in an area where Hezbollah is prohibited from having weapons under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that blast would be investigated. Last year, there were a number of large explosions at weapons depots in...

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's state television says the Cabinet has submitted its resignation to the ruling military council but will stay on to run the nation's day-to-day affairs until a decision is made. The resignation of the Cabinet on Monday came amid widening protests against the ruling military. Protesters are demanding that the military quickly announce a date for the handover of power to a civilian government. At least 24 protesters have been killed in the past three days.

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Treasury chief George Osborne says the UK will cut financial ties with Iranian banks over fears about its nuclear program. Osborne says all UK financial institutions will cease business relationships and transactions with all Iranian banks, including their Central Bank of Iran from 3pm GMT (10EST) Monday. Osborne said Monday this is the first time the British government has cut an entire country's banking sector off from the U.K.'s financial sector.

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said on TV in June at least 2 CIA spies identified in Hezbollah ranks; current and former U.S. officials concede this happened, says damage has spread. The CIA’s operations in Lebanon have been badly damaged after Hezbollah identified and captured a number of U.S. spies recently, current and former U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday. The intelligence debacle is particularly troubling because the CIA saw it coming.

21 November 2011 A bus, part of a convoy carrying Turkish pilgrims, has come under gun attack in central Syria, Turkish media and officials say. At least two people, one of them a bus driver, were injured in the attack near the flashpoint city of Homs, they say. The passengers, who had attended the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, later arrived back in Turkey. Private news agency Dogan showed images of the vehicle with one of its side windows broken. "We confirm that an attack took place in Syria," a foreign ministry official told AFP news agency, without giving any...

Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest.

November 18, 2011 04:59 AM BEIRUT: Turkey and Jordan, backed by Western and Arab powers, are preparing to set up two "safe zones" for civilians inside Syria, diplomats said Friday. The Western and Arab diplomats told The Daily Star that Syria's two neighbors would press ahead with preparations to establish the two havens if President Bashar Assad did not sign on to an Arab plan aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters by Saturday. The diplomats said an international meeting in Paris would discuss later Friday the details of the plans to set up the zones in southern...

PARIS (AP) — France's ambassador to Syria says the government in Paris has ordered him home in the wake of recent attacks against diplomatic missions and a crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Ambassador Eric Chevallier said by phone Wednesday he "was aware" that he had been ordered back but declined to provide details. He deferred all questions about the reasons to the Foreign Ministry. The ministry declined immediate comment.

Syrian army defectors attacked a military intelligence base on Wednesday in one of the most daring raids in eight months of protests against almost five decades of Baath rule. The early morning raid on the air force intelligence base just outside Damascus was among the most spectacular carried out by the growing number of deserters from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's largely conscript armed forces who have refused orders to open fire on civilian protesters. The unprecedented movement against Assad's 11-year rule has been spearheaded by peaceful demonstrators but in recent months the deserters have organized themselves into a Free Syrian...