This is Beirut - Damascus

U.S. Pulls Troops From Northeastern Syria Amid SDF-Damascus Integration

This is Beirut, 06/02 23:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

The U.S. has begun its withdrawal of troops from the Shaddadi base in northeastern Syria this week as part of a broader drawdown of direct U.S. military presence in Syria. This event occurred amid the incorporation of civilian and security sector responsibilities to Damascus to replace the SDF and the U.S. as the primary force monitoring the ...

Lebanon and Syria Ink Deal on Prisoner Handover

This is Beirut, 06/02 15:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Damascus Hezbollah Lebanese Forces

Lebanon signed an agreement with Syria on Friday to hand around 300 convicts over to Damascus, a move seen as key to helping turn a new page in ties between the countries. Overcrowded Lebanese prisons host more than 2,200 Syrians held on various charges. Many of them are still awaiting trial, while hundreds accused of "terrorism" or ...

The End of the Middle East’s Oil Bonanza

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 03/02 09:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Middle East Lebanon Bahrain Damascus Gulf

The Middle East has finally arrived at the grim reckoning long barreling toward it: a ruinous collapse of oil revenues that renders government deficits utterly unsustainable. Among the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, four are running persistent annual budget deficits that are eroding their sovereign wealth reserves and plunging ...

Iraq Opens Probe Into ISIS Detainees Transferred From Syria

This is Beirut, 02/02 12:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Iraq’s judiciary announced on Monday that it has begun investigations into more than 1,300 suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) group who were recently transferred from Syria as part of a U.S.-led operation. In a statement, the judiciary’s media office said investigative proceedings had started against 1,387 members of the “Daesh ...

Syria Says Hezbollah Weapons Used in Damascus Airport Attacks

This is Beirut, 02/02 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Syrian authorities said on Sunday they had detained a group responsible for a series of rocket attacks targeting the Mezzeh military airport in the capital, adding that investigators traced the weapons used in the strikes to Hezbollah. In a statement, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security units arrested all members of the group after weeks ...

A Month of Crisis in Syria and Its Regional Ramifications

Seth J. Frantzman, 01/02 19:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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Syria has experienced another dramatic transformation. After a month of clashes that began in Aleppo and spread to eastern Syria, Damascus announced on January 30 that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for a ceasefire and its military integration. The Syrian transitional government now controls most of the ...

Syria–Kurds Reach Integration Deal After Weeks of Fighting

This is Beirut, 30/01 13:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Syria Kurds SDF

Syria’s government and Kurdish forces on Friday reached a broad agreement to gradually integrate Kurdish military units and administrative structures into the central state, following weeks of clashes that ended in a ceasefire. The deal, confirmed by both the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian state television, comes ...

Syrian Security Thwarts Weapons Smuggling Attempt Bound for Lebanon

This is Beirut, 26/01 13:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Damascus Syria

Syrian internal security forces announced on Monday that they had thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of weapons into Lebanese territory, following coordinated operations in central and southern Syria. According to the Internal Security Directorate in the Al-Qusayr area of Homs, acting in cooperation with the Internal Security ...

Kurdish SDF Fighters Leave North Syria Prison Under Govt Deal: State Media

This is Beirut, 23/01 09:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Syria said early Friday that government forces had begun transferring Kurdish fighters from a prison in the north where they had been holding Islamic State group detainees, as part of a weekend agreement. An AFP correspondent in Raqa saw buses and cars heading away from the Al-Aqtan prison on the city's outskirts overnight, escorted by ...

Erbil Set to Host New Syria-Kurdish Talks as Ceasefire Strains in the North

This is Beirut, 22/01 16:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Ceasefire Damascus USA Kurds SDF Erbil

A new round of negotiations between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is set to take place in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Kurdish sources cited by Al Arabiya, as efforts intensify to salvage a ceasefire and revive talks over the future of northeastern Syria. The planned meetings come just days after ...

PM Salam: Arms Consolidation Plan Covers All Lebanese Territory

This is Beirut, 22/01 16:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanese Army Lebanon Damascus Hezbollah Syria Litani South Lebanon

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated on Thursday that the Lebanese Army’s (LAF) plan to consolidate all arms under state authority applies to the entirety of Lebanon, not only areas south of the Litani River, underscoring the government’s commitment to restoring the state’s exclusive control over weapons. In an interview with ...

Lebanon and Syria Seek Rapprochement Amid Lingering Distrust

Samar el Kadi, 22/01 16:00 - Reading : 10 minute(s)

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Since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime in December 2024, Lebanon and Syria have been in the process of rebuilding trust and repairing relations. The challenging endeavor, supported by Saudi Arabia with Washington’s backing, follows decades of recriminations and Lebanon’s former subjugation under Syria’s Baathist rule. Syria did not ...

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