Syria

December 31, 2024 7:38 PM

Syria’s Spiral: The Rise, Reign, and Ruin of Bashar al-Assad Amid the Arab Spring’s Echoes

Syria, a country in Southwest Asia on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, was deeply affected by the Arab Spring protests that swept through many nations in the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011. These were anti-regime, pro-democracy demonstrations aimed at toppling dictatorial governments. Backed by Iran and Russia, the regime led by Bashar al-Assad survived the revolutionary wave carried out by rebel forces and eventually reclaimed many of the territories they once held. T...

December 31, 2024 9:01 AM

Syria eyes ‘strategic’ ties with Ukraine, Kyiv vows more food aid shipments

Syria hopes for strategic partnerships with Ukraine, its new foreign minister told his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, as Kyiv moves to build ties with the new Islamist rulers in Damascus amid waning Russian influence. Russia was a staunch ally of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and has given him political asylum. Moscow has said it is in contact with the new administration in Damascus, including over the fate of Russian military facilities in Syria. "There will be strategic partnerships bet...

December 24, 2024 7:23 PM

Uncertainty clouds fate of Syrians in Egypt after Assad ouster

Syrian refugees and residents in Egypt face an uncertain future as new regulations may jeopardise their right to remain in the country after Bashar al-Assad's ouster earlier this month. European countries quickly suspended Syrian asylum applications after the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swept into Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after a 13-year civil war. Other countries are also responding to the changing political landscape. Egypt last week ratified a new law giving the go...

December 20, 2024 11:32 AM

Top US officials in Damascus to meet new Syrian rulers, State Department says

Top diplomats from the Biden administration are in Damascus on Friday to meet new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a State Department spokesperson said, the first in-person and official meeting between Washington and Syria's de-facto new rulers. The State Department's top Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf, Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and newly appointed Senior Advisor Daniel Rubinstein, who is now tasked with leading the Department's Syria engageme...

December 18, 2024 5:21 PM

Leader of former Syrian opposition says transitional government should not exclude any party

Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition that grouped opponents of Bashar al-Assad during the civil war, said on Wednesday Syria's transitional government should be credible and not exclude any Syrian party or be based on sectarianism. In a seismic moment for the Middle East, Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war, ending his family's decades-long rule. The lightning offensive raised questions over whether the...

December 17, 2024 10:18 AM

Bashar al-Assad gives account of last hours before leaving Syria

Syria's Bashar al-Assad issued his first statement since being toppled from power, saying he was evacuated to Russia from the Hmeimim base on Dec. 8 as it came under drone attack, after leaving Damascus that morning with rebel fighters closing in. His written statement was published on the Syrian presidency's Telegram channel and dated Dec. 16 from Moscow, where he has been granted asylum. He was ousted after insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swept through Syria in a ...

December 16, 2024 3:38 PM

Why 2024 became a turning point for Syria

Syria, a country in Southwest Asia on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, was deeply impacted by the Arab Spring protests that swept through many nations in the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011. These were anti-regime, pro-democracy demonstrations aimed at toppling dictatorial governments. Backed by Iran and Russia, the regime led by Bashar al-Assad survived the revolutionary wave carried out by rebel forces and eventually reclaimed many of the territories they once held. T...

December 15, 2024 1:00 PM

Ukraine to set up mechanism to supply food to Syria, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had instructed his government to set up supply mechanisms to deliver together with international organisations and partners food to Syria in the aftermath of the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. Ukraine has been one of the world's top grain and oilseeds exporters, and has been exporting wheat and corn to Middle Eastern countries, but not to Syria. Syria imported food from Russia during the Assad era, but Russian wheat supplies have ...

December 13, 2024 10:23 PM

Could UN sanctions on Syrian rebels HTS be removed?

The rebel group that led the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - has long been under United Nations sanctions, which the U.N. special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has described as "a complicating factor for all of us." Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014 the group has been on the United Nations Security Council al Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions list, and subjected to a ...

December 13, 2024 6:40 PM

Assad’s final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight

Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told reporters. Hours before he escaped for Moscow, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out, according to a commander who was prese...