damascus

From Torture to Advocacy: One Man’s Mission to Document Syria’s Darkest Chapter

Riyad Avlar spent 20 years languishing in Syria's jails, including a decade in the infamous Saydnaya prison, the scene of some of the Bashar al-Assad government's most brutal abuses. Those long years behind bars have left him with one obsession: documenting and healing the atrocities committed inside the prison where he himself was locked up. "I ...

Is Democracy Possible in the Arab World?

The Assad family, more accurately known by the name "Al-Wahesh" (the savage), has surpassed all limits of hatred and brutality. After the dictator and his cronies fled, the world, horrified, discovered the full extent of the crimes against humanity that had been the norm in a country left in ruins. In Lebanon, we have long known, through our own ...

Father Siraj Dib from Damascus: 'As Long as We Have Faith, We Have Hope!'

However, in Bab Touma, a district with a strong Christian majority in the eastern part of Old Damascus, a sense of apprehension and waiting prevails in the almost deserted streets. Most shops and churches remain closed, awaiting a stabilization of the political and military situation. This is Beirut spoke to the residents of this neighborhood, ...

The Story of a Christian Community in Damascus, After Assad...

Father Siraj Dib, a Maronite priest of the Archdiocese of Damascus, shares a powerful testimony about the situation of Christians in the Syrian capital after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In this exclusive interview, he reflects on the liberation of Syria, the hopes and fears of the residents of Bab Touma and the uncertainty surrounding ...

Syria's New Leaders Pledge Justice and Inclusivity After Assad's Fall

Syria's new prime minister said the Islamist-led alliance that ousted president Bashar al-Assad will guarantee the rights of all religious groups and called on the millions who fled the war to return home. Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought to a ...

Damascus Airport Set to Reopen in the Coming Days

Damascus airport, closed since rebel forces overran the Syrian capital at the weekend, is to reopen "in the next few days", its director Anis Fallouh told AFP on Wednesday. "God willing, the airport will reopen as quickly as possible because we are going to work flat out," Fallouh said. Pushed to give a timeframe for the ...

Rebels Set Fire to Hafez al-Assad's Tomb in Syria

The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez was torched in his hometown of Qardaha, AFP footage taken Wednesday showed, with rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the rebels had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of ...

Assad Followers and Officers Sneaking into Lebanon

The Lebanese-Syrian border, particularly the eastern sector, is in disarray as thousands of Syrians – mostly supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's regime – illegally enter Lebanon. Security sources anticipate that, in the coming days, Syrian rebel factions will establish control over this border, focusing on the official crossings ...

Qatar Says to Reopen Embassy in Syria 'Soon'

Qatar said on Wednesday that it would soon reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus after president Bashar al-Assad's ouster in an Islamist-led rebel offensive. The Gulf country "will soon reopen its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic after completing the necessary arrangements", foreign ministry spokesman Majed ...

New Syria PM Calls for Syrians Abroad to Return

Syria's new transitional prime minister has called for Syrians who have sought refuge abroad to return to their homeland following the ouster of longtime president Bashar al-Assad. Mohammad al-Bashir, appointed by rebel groups as the transitional head of government to run the country until March, told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily that one of ...