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Syria's de Facto Leader Ahmed al-Sharaa Meets Minority Christians

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 21:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Ahmed al-Sharaa Syria Syrian Democratic Forces

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met with senior Christian clerics on Tuesday, amid calls on the Islamist chief to guarantee minority rights after seizing power earlier this month. "The leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meets a delegation from the Christian community in Damascus," Syria's General Command said in a ...

French Air Strikes Target IS Positions in Syria

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA France Syria

French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday, in its first such strike on the country's soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. "Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant," Lecornu wrote on X while on a New Year visit to French UN peacekeepers in ...

HTS Military Chief Appointed Syria’s Defense Minister

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 13:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Syria

The military chief of the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been appointed Minister of Defense in Syria’s transitional government, authorities announced on Tuesday. "The general command announces the appointment of General Mourhaf Abou Qasra as Minister of Defense in the new government of the Syrian Arab Republic," led by ...

Maysaa Sabrine, First Woman to Manage the Affairs of the Syrian Central Bank

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 12:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Banks Syria

The new Syrian authorities have tasked a central bank official, Maysaa Sabrine, with "managing affairs" at the institution, marking an unprecedented appointment for a woman to this position, an internal source told AFP on Tuesday. This financial expert, who had served as the first deputy governor of the Syrian central bank since 2018, began her ...

Intersecting Factors Obstruct Presidential Election Again: From Ceasefire to Iran’s Plan

Philippe Abi Akl, 2024-12-31 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

President Elections Iran Syria Lebanon Israel

Although the Lebanese presidential election is – or should be – a purely internal matter, observers of the issue agree that it has become organically linked to changes in the region. These include everything from Israel’s war on Hezbollah and its repercussions to the peaceful coup in Syria. While it is true that Iran – through its arm in ...

'Foreign Jihadists' Among Rebels to Be Made Syria Army Officers

This is Beirut, 2024-12-30 16:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria HTS Ahmad al-Sharaa SOHR

Former rebels were promoted to officers in Syria's future army in a decree passed by de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa—with a war monitor and experts identifying on Monday foreign jihadists among them. The new authorities in Damascus, who until recently were Islamist-led rebels fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, last week unveiled an accord ...

Chaos or Restructuring?

Charles Chartouni, 2024-12-30 10:37 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Iran Israel USA

The regional landscape is far from reassuring; none of the political and military events have come to a closure, and none of the geostrategic and political issues have found a way to deliberation. The situation in Syria is under the pull and sway of strident political factionalism, clashing regional power politics and endemic instability. Lebanon ...

Three Mass Graves Discovered in Homs, According to the SOHR

This is Beirut, 2024-12-29 20:30 - Reading : less than a minute

mass grave syria SOHR

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), three mass graves have been discovered in the village of Al-Qabou, in the countryside of Homs, containing the bodies of 20 unidentified individuals. On December 23, SOHR sources reported that a mass grave had been found in the city of Homs, containing the bodies of over 1,200 ...

Uproar After Syria Official's Comments on Women

This is Beirut, 2024-12-29 19:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria HTS women rights

Comments by Syria's newly appointed head of women's affairs have sparked uproar, with social media users expressing outrage on Sunday, weeks after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Turkey's state-run TRT broadcaster this week asked Aisha al-Dibs, the only woman so far in Syria's transitional government since Assad's ...

Syria: Explosion Near Damascus Kills Several People

This is Beirut, 2024-12-29 17:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus syria strike israel

An explosion at a weapons depot near Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday killed 11 people, a war monitor said, weeks after rebels ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the cause of the blast in the industrial area of Adra, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Damascus, was "likely" to have been an ...

Syria: Al-Joulani Announces Elections in Four Years

This is Beirut, 2024-12-29 16:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Syria HTS Jolani elections

The new leader of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, announced in an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya on Sunday that organizing elections in Syria could take up to four years, as it would require a complete population census. He also stated that drafting a new constitution could take three years. Rejecting criticism ...

Nearly 300 Arrested in Syria Crackdown on Assad Loyalists

This is Beirut, 2024-12-29 12:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Latakia Syria HTS

Syria's new authorities have arrested nearly 300 people, including informants, pro-regime fighters and former soldiers, in a crackdown on loyalists to ousted former president Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said Sunday. Since rebels led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group toppled Assad ...

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