SpotlightThe Assad Reign in Lebanon: Discord and Destabilization

Michel Touma 2024-12-08 13:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Kamal Joumblatt Middle East Syria Assad Lebanon

Four years ago, Lebanon celebrated the centennial of Greater Lebanon’s creation. It is important to acknowledge that almost half of these one hundred years were marked by the unfortunate conflicts with the Assad regime, from the early 1970s to the dramatic downfall of Bashar al-Assad and his regime on December 8, a historic day. Lebanon’s ...

Syrian Rebels Engage Kurdish Forces in Manbij With Turkish Support

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 12:00 - Reading : less than a minute

USA Syria SDF

Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s fighters announced they had entered the northern Syrian town of Manbij on Sunday, while the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces withdrew from it, according to rebel officials interviewed by Reuters. SNA claimed to have launched an attack against the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic ...

VideosRECAP: Rebel Offensive Overthrows Assad Regime, Marking Syria's New Era

Vanessa Kallas 2024-12-08 11:55 - Reading : less than a minute

The Assad regime, which ruled Syria for over five decades, has fallen. Here’s a Recap of the events that led to the fall of Assad's government and the beginning of Syria’s uncertain future.

Syria Rebels Enter Damascus, Bashar al-Assad Flees Country

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 11:35 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Syria Conflict Rebels

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said that President Bashar al-Assad has left the country, after losing swathes of territory to a lightning offensive led by an Islamist-led rebel coalition that said it entered Damascus on Sunday. Residents in the Syrian capital told AFP heavy gunfire rang out, after a source close to ...

Syria: The Middle East’s Berlin Wall Has Fallen

Marc Saikali 2024-12-08 11:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Middle East Syria Bachar el-Assad Iran

It only took a few days for the "rebels" to overthrow one of the world's most tyrannical regimes—almost without a fight. At this point, it’s still difficult to understand how such a heterogeneous group, mostly armed with light weapons—at least according to the images we've seen—managed to bring down the Assad regime, which has been in ...

ExplainerThe Assad Dynasty in Syria: Autocratic Legacy, Repression and Challenges

Alissar Boulos 2024-12-08 10:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Donald Trump Hezbollah Tehran Turkey USA

Syria has been under the rule of the Assad dynasty for more than half a century. Hafez al-Assad, the founder, seized power in 1970, followed by his son Bashar, who took control in 2000 after his father's death. Belonging to the Alawite minority, the Assads established an autocratic regime over a predominantly Sunni population, portraying ...

The Syrian regime has fallen: Damascus in the grip of the opposition factions

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 08:55 - Reading : less than a minute

Syria Bachar el-Assad Baath Party Rebels

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime was toppled on Sunday, less than two weeks after an alliance of opposition groups launched a lightning offensive, ending decades of the Baath Party authoritarian rule. Damascus fell into the hands of the rebels overnight, as Assad fled the country heading to an unknown destination. Syrians across the ...

SpotlightSyria's Bashar al-Assad's Quarter Century in Power

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 08:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Iran war HTS Bashar al-Assad

AFP looks back at almost a quarter-century of rule by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since he was propelled to power following the death of his father Hafez in 2000. 2000: takes over from father On July 17, 2000, Assad becomes Syria's new head of state, after the death of his father, aged 69, who ruled Syria with an iron grip for 30 years. He ...

PortraitBashar al-Assad: From Tyranny to Collapse

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 08:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Syria Bashar al-Assad Iran war Russia

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad oversaw a merciless crackdown on a pro-democracy revolt that morphed into one of the bloodiest wars of the century. On Sunday, as rebels entered the capital, a Syrian war monitor said he had left the country, in what could spell the end not just of his 24-year rule but the downfall of his clan's five-decade ...

Zelensky Insists on a "Just Peace" in Paris

This is Beirut 2024-12-08 04:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine Russia Paris

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday insisted at a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump that any settlement with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine had to be "just", as fears grow in Kyiv on the position of the incoming administration. President Emmanuel Macron hosted three-way talks with Zelensky and Trump at the Elysee ...

Syria Rebels Say They Control Homs

This is Beirut 2024-12-07 23:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Syria HTS Bashar al-Assad SOHR

Islamist-led rebels announced Sunday they had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the way towards Damascus where Syria's embattled government said it was setting up an impenetrable security cordon. The defence ministry earlier denied rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation there as "safe and stable". But the leader of ...

Syria Government Sets Up Security Cordon as Rebels Advance on Damascus

This is Beirut 2024-12-07 22:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar Assad HTS Syrian Arab Army

Syria's embattled government said Saturday it was setting up a military cordon around Damascus, state media reported, as rebels on a lightning advance said they were bearing down on the city. "There is a very strong security and military cordon on the far edges of Damascus and its countryside, and no one... can penetrate this defensive line that ...