This is Beirut, 15/12 11:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The citizens of Damascus largely celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad's hated regime with joy, after 13 long years of brutal civil war. But the city's drinking holes did have one concern. The rebel army that overthrew the former leader was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group which some drinkers feared would forbid the sale of ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 21:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
hezb israel lebeanon south lebanon syria naim qassem
In a televised speech on Friday, his first since the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem acknowledged that “Hezbollah has lost its military supply route through Syria,” but emphasized that this loss was merely a minor detail and that a new supply route would be established. Qassem further ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 20:35 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
United States Anthony Blinken Syria HTS Ahmed al-Sharaa
The United States has made contact with Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, despite previously designating the group as terrorists. Blinken's comments, after talks on Syria in Jordan, came as Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after the Islamist-led rebels toppled ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 17:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria's civil war. The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats were meeting in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 16:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Syria Jordan Anthony Blinken HTS ISIS
Top diplomats from eight Arab countries, meeting in Jordan on Saturday, called for a peaceful transition in Syria with UN and Arab League support following Bashar al-Assad's ouster. In a final statement after the talks in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab ...
Maurice Matta, 14/12 16:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
A few days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian pound made a dramatic recovery against the US dollar in local markets, trading between 13,000 and 15,000 pounds per dollar. This rebound followed months of sharp devaluation, with the exchange rate previously collapsing to nearly 60,000 pounds per dollar on the black ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 14:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Russian forces in Syria are reportedly preparing to evacuate their bases, according to satellite images obtained Friday by AFP from Maxar Technologies, following the ousting of former president and Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad by Syrian rebels last week. Russia, which has been militarily involved in the Syrian conflict since 2015, maintains a ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 11:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
European Union Turkey United Nations USA Syria
A UN envoy on Saturday urged foreign powers to work to avoid a collapse of vital Syrian institutions following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, as diplomats gathered in Jordan for a conference on the crisis. Geir Pedersen, the UN's special envoy for Syria, also backed a "credible and inclusive" political process to form the next government as he ...
This is Beirut, 14/12 10:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said Israel launched strikes early Saturday targeting military sites in Damascus and its countryside, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago. "Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute" and other related military facilities in Barzeh, ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 21:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Turkey said Friday it had urged Russia and Iran not to intervene militarily to support Bashar al-Assad's forces as Islamist-led rebels mounted their lightning advance on Damascus that ended with the Syrian strongman's ouster. "The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn't enter the equation ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 21:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus syria HTS Bashar al-Assad
Syria's Islamist-led rebel alliance had been planning the surprise ouster of President Basher al-Assad for a year, an opposition military leader told the Guardian in an interview published Friday. The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group, which says it has moved away from its roots in Al-Qaeda, has long-controlled a part of northwest ...
This is Beirut, 13/12 21:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A delegation from Qatar is due to visit Syria on Sunday for meetings with officials in its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a Qatari diplomat told AFP Friday. "The first Qatari delegation visit to Syria is expected to happen Sunday where they will take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy and ...