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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the Security Council to put “sustained pressure” on President Bashar Assad of Syria, saying he was “gravely concerned” about the rising death toll. 258
Read More »A Syrian fighter pilot, named as Col. Hassan Mirei al-Hamadeh, has defected to Jordan and has been granted asylum in Jordan after flying his MiG 21 plane to the King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, in the 263
Read More »“We believe the Syrian leadership reacted wrongly to the first appearance of peaceful protests and... is making very many mistakes,” Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Lavrov told Russian radio sta 8
Read More »Russia and China veto draft UN Security Resolution on Syria that condemned the authorities for their crack-down of protesters. 9
Read More »China and Russia veto draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria that called on President Bashar al-Assad to step-down. The remaining 13 countries voted in favour. 10
Read More »Head of the UN mission in Syria, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told the UN Security Council that a total of 116 were killed in the Syrian town of Houla during massacres carried out during 25-25 May. The Syria 267
Read More »In an interview with Beirut-based Mayadeen television the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) leader Ahmed Jabril said the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and Iran wi 523
Read More »UN-Arab League Peace envoy Kofi Annan deplored the killing of at least 108 people in the Syrian town of Houla as “an appalling crime” and urged President Bashar Assad to prove he wants a peaceful 270
Read More »In an interview to Iranian state television Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that his government had a duty to "eliminate terrorists" to protect its people and added: "When you eliminate a terror 526
Read More »A committee of Arab ministers headed by Qatar Saturday called on UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan "to set a time frame for his mission because it is unacceptable that massacres and bloodshed 271
Read More »Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bulent Arinc told a news conference that Syrian forces had fired at a second Turkish plane which was searching for an F-4 reconnaissance jet shot down by Syria last wee 529
Read More »A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near a team of UN observers in Douma, a suburb of Damascus and no one was hurt in the blast. 275
Read More »A UN investigation said both the Government and opposition forces have committed serious human rights abuses in the 15-month old conflict in Syria. 276
Read More »The Turkish and Syrian navies conducted a joint search for Turkish airmen shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean. 536
Read More »Opposition activists said Syrian forces killed more than 30 people when they fired a mortar bomb into a funeral procession for a man who died in shelling the previous day. 540
Read More »Arab League called on the UN to send a peacekeeping mission to Syria. 33
Read More »Government demanded written guarantees for ceasefire from the opposition armed groups before pulling out of armed forces from population centres as demanded by Kofi Annan Plan. 37
Read More »Hazem Chehabi, a U.S. citizen and businessman based in Orange County, California, resigned his position as honorary Syrian consul in the US protesting against violence in Houla during the weekend. For 298
Read More »Toward implementing his peace plan, UN Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan arrived in Tehran for talks with the officials of Iran. 43
Read More »Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov blamed both the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition on Tuesday for the apparent failure of peace plan mooted by UN special envoy Kofi Annan. He was a 44
Read More »UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday that Syria has not fully complied with the terms of his peace plan and called for the swift deployment of a UN truce-monitoring fo 54
Read More »In a joint press conference in Tehran with with UN-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi declared that "enough time should be given to the Syrian government 56
Read More »The UN Security Council unanimously authorized the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor the country's fragile ceasefire, which came into effect on 12 April. 59
Read More »In a first public statement since the beginning of unrest in Syria, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was "appalled at the continuous slaughter of innocent civilians by [President Bashar] Assa 316
Read More »Officials claimed that the commencement of the academic year in Syria but most schools remained closed in many areas which witnessed prolonged unrest and violence. 572
Read More »Saudi Arabia stayed away from the Egypt initiated four-party Contact Group meeting on the Syrian crisis and the other participants are Iran and Turkey. 573
Read More »During his meeting with Iranian minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said that better relations between the two countries are being hindered by Tehran’s support for Syria’s 577
Read More »Voting in the UNSC favour of the unanimous decision to send a UN team to monitor the ceasefire between the government and rebels in Syria, India's representative Hardeep Puri said that the UN mission 70
Read More »In an interview published in The Times of London, former Syrian military officer and now a defector, Major General Adnan Sillu claimed that the government of President Bashar Assad had plans in place 582
Read More »Turkish news agency Anatolia reported that an unnamed commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has offered a 25-million-dollar bounty for anyone who captures Syrian President Bashar Assad "alive or dea 584
Read More »In a communication to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Wednesday he isn't underestimating the gravity of the situation in Syria but believes there is an opportunity for 74
Read More »Syrian opposition activists claimed at least 30 people were killed when Syrian army tanks shelled residential neighborhoods in the city of Hama that have been serving as bases for rebel attacks agains 331
Read More »Citing rebel forces, a report in Al-Jazeera claimed that senior officials including Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha were killed in Damascus. These proved to be 332
Read More »Following his meeting with his British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavroy criticized the weekend massacre in Houla in which over 100 people were reportedly killed 335
Read More »UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the number of registered refugees from Syria in Jordan has reached 12,000; private NGOs however put the figure at over 30,000. 82
Read More »A car bomb at a Syrian military post in Deir al-Zour killed nine people and wounded at least 100 people and the government said was the latest proof that the unrest against President Bashar Assad was 340
Read More »In a statement aired through al-Jazeera, Colonel Riad Al Asaad, Turkey-based Syrian rebel commander, urged UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan to announce the failure of his peace plan and free th 341
Read More »Following a UN visit, head of the UN Mission Gen. Robert Mood said that the UN monitors counted more 92 bodies, including 32 children, who were killed in Houla. According to human rights groups the sh 342
Read More »Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi cancelled a meeting of four regional powers on the Syria crisis because of the absence of Turkey’s prime minister from this week’s UN General Assembly. Iran and S 598
Read More »Syrian rebels kidnapped 13 Lebanese Shias in the northern province of Aleppo as they returned home from a pilgrimage. This followed the killing of a Lebanese Sunni Muslim cleric opposed to Syrian Pres 343
Read More »An anonymous Syrian rebel leader told Israeli daily Ha'aretz that opposition has plans to take control of the chemical weapons depots and secure them in the first hours after the regime collapse. 346
Read More »Following his meeting with members of the Syrian opposition Foreign Minister of France Alain Juppe said the UN-backed peace plan was “seriously compromised” and that the deployment of UN monitors 92
Read More »The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution “strongly condemning'' the recent El-Houle incident, which resulted in the death of over a hundred civilians including women and 349
Read More »Mohammed Riyad Al Shaqfa, chief of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP that Russia’s UN Security Council veto is “just an excuse” for world powers not to intervene in Syria, but the regime is g 605
Read More »Describing the security situation in Syria as 'unacceptable, UN-Arab League Envoy Kofi Annan called for the "rapid deployment" of a UN observer mission to quell the violence. 94
Read More »Opposition groups claimed that Syrian regime is pursuing a collective punishment and using army bulldozers razed a number of houses in western Damascus. 606
Read More »Syrian government claimed that its forces recaptured Arkoub a major district of key battleground city Aleppo. 607
Read More »Speaking at Bar-Ilan University, head of Israel's Northern Command Yair Golan said that deterioration of the situation in Syria could lead to a growing terrorist threat against Israel. 352
Read More »General Martin Dempsey, a senior US military official told broadcaster that the US Defence Department was prepared to offer "military option" to resolve the unrest in Syria. 354
Read More »Expressing the US disappointment at the veto by Russia and China of the UN Security Council resolution regarding Syria on Wednesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that both countries 355
Read More »UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said that he sees no quick end to the Syrian crisis where President Bashar al-Assad is clinging to the “old” regime. 611
Read More »United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) Navi Pillay told AP that there should be no amnesty for serious crimes committed in Syria and added: "You cannot have amnesty for very serious 356
Read More »The UN Refugee Agency warned that there could be as many as 700,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn nation by the end of the year and stepped up call for emergency funding. 612
Read More »Following the 25 May Houla incident in which more than 100 people were killed, a number of western countries have expelled Syria’s envoys from their countries. The US, France, Britain, Canada, Germ 358
Read More »The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a Russian-European drafted resolution authorizing an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for three months to mo 104
Read More »MENA, Egypt's state new agency quoted Arab League Secretary-General Dr. Nabil Elaraby as saying that the situation in Syria was amounting to war crimes and said those responsible would be held account 360
Read More »Abdullah Gu, the president of Turkey, said the Turkish F-4 Phantom fighter jet shot down by Syria's air defence forces the previous day might have violated Syrian airspace. 361
Read More »Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, the senior most military official to defect from President Bashar al-Assad's rule, told a newspaper interview that he would help unite Syria's fragmented opposition insid 362
Read More »Syria criticized UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as biased and called his comments “outrageous” after he blamed the regime for widespread ceasefire violations. 111
Read More »Lebanese authorities seized a large consignment of Libyan weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy calibre ammunition from a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean. The cargo was to be in 112
Read More »In a meeting attended by 17 countries including Russia, China and India, Iran warned that an abrupt end to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad would have catastrophic consequences for Syria. 625
Read More »Speaker of Majlis Ali Larijari accused the West of interfereing in the Syrian crisis without the approval of the UN Security Council and warned that attempts by the US to destabilize Syria would hurt 626
Read More »Iran has asked Turkey and Qatar to help secure the release of 48 Iranians who were seized on 4 August by rebels in Syria on the suspicion of being military personnel but who Tehran says are pilgrims. 627
Read More »Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi flew to Turkey to secure Turkish help for the releasae of 48 Iranian kidnapped by Syrian rebels on 4 August. 629
Read More »A senior IDF officer Brig. Gen. Tamir Hyman told journalists that the IDF was preparing for the possibility of terror attacks from the Syrian border. 376
Read More »At least four students were killed during an anti-government protest at Aleppo University. 121
Read More »General Robert Mood, Norwegian general charged with overseeing a shaky UN-brokered truce in Syria arrived in Damascus. 125
Read More »Herve Ladsous, head of the 300-member UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) accused both the Syrian regime and its opponents for the continued violation of the UN brokered ceasefire as per the Kofi 126
Read More »At least 55 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in twin-suicide bombings in Damascus. 129
Read More »Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior Israeli officials that while his country was not obligated to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia and Syria have strategic relations. 389
Read More »Foreign Minister of Syria Walid Muallem arrived in Tehran for talks with top Iranian officials to discuss developments in Syria. 390
Read More »Following a GCC summit meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned that 'confidence' in the UN-AL Kofi Annan plan for Syria is "is falling rapidly because fighting and bloodshed contin 135
Read More »Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi was quoted as telling Turkish news channel A Haber that his country's forces might have mistaken the Turkish F-4 Phantom jet as an Israeli fighter and hence 391
Read More »Terje Roed-Larsen, UN special envoy on the implementation of a UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that calls for the disarming of Lebanese militia disclosed, "there is a flow of arms both ways - from 149
Read More »Jakob Kellenberger, President of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), disclosed that due to continuing unrest in Syria 1.5 million people need help getting food, water, shelter, power and 159
Read More »Despite the continuing unrest, Syria held its first “multi-party” election to the 250-member parliament. 163
Read More »Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby warned that rising violence in Syria could turn into a civil war and could could spill to neighboring countries. He told reports at the Arab League office in Beijing: " 165
Read More »A roadside blast hit Syrian troops escorting UN observers in the south of the country. 166
Read More »UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon announced that Kofi Annan, UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria, would leave his position at the end of the month. 422
Read More »Kofi Annan, UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria, announced that he would quit his role when his mandate ends on 31 August. Asserting that President Bashar Assad must leave office for the good of h 423
Read More »In his first public appearance since defecting to Syria Former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab said the Syrian regime is falling apart economically, financially and morally and that government force 425
Read More »Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu announced that two Turkish journalists who went missing while reporting on the unrest in Syria two months ago were released with Iran's help. 170
Read More »President Bashar Assad appointed Wael Al Halki, a Sunni Muslim from the southern province of Deraa, as the new prime minister. This follows the defection of Riyad Hijab to Jordan on 6 August. 426
Read More »Official SANA News Agency was quoted President Bashar Assad as saying that the army was fighting for the nation’s future and “is engaged in a crucial and heroic battle... on which the destiny of t 427
Read More »In an interview aired by a private channel President Bashar Assad observed: "I can summarise in one phrase: we are progressing, the situation on the ground is better but we have not yet won — this w 428
Read More »Five people were killed and more than 70 wounded in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli in clashes between Alawite supporters of President Bashar Assad of Syria and Sunni Muslims. 173
Read More »The Syrian opposition activists accused the army of massacring hundreds of people in the town of Daraya, southwest of Damascus. According to them some 320 bodies, including women and children, were fo 429
Read More »Quoting Western and Gulf sources Reuters reported that President Bashar Assad’s brother and Commander of Republican Guard and 4th Division Maher lost a leg in the 18 July bomb attack in Damascus. 430
Read More »In an interview to Russian Rossiya-24 TV channel President Bashar Assad warned “For the leaders of these countries, it’s becoming clear that this is not ‘Spring’ but chaos, and as I have said, 177
Read More »Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) told Reuters that he is ready to resign for the sake of unity among the Syrian opposition. 180
Read More »President Vladimir Putin of Russia urged Western and Arab governments to review their policy on Syria and speaking to Russia Today television he asked: "Why should Russia be the only one reassessing i 440
Read More »During its meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki a three-member US delegation led by Senator John McCain questioned raised the issue of Iranian flights in Iraqi airspace suspected of ferry 441
Read More »Speaking in the parliament Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that his government had nothing to do with the Houla massacre and added not even "monsters" would carry out such an ugly crime. 188
Read More »The ITAR-TASS news agency has quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying: “We have never said or insisted that [President Bashar] Assad necessarily had to remain in power at th 209
Read More »Addressing a meeting of the AKP MPs, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Syria to beware the wrath of Turkey and that he had ordered the armed forces to react to any military threat from 466
Read More »At a meeting of the new cabinet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that his country is "witnessing a real situation of war.” 467
Read More »In a single incident, Syrian rebels killed at least 18 soldiers in a car bomb and ground attack on a military position in Idlib province of northwest Syria. 468
Read More »UN observers in Syria monitoring the cease-fire issued the first independent video images from the scene of the reported massacre in Mazraat al-Qubair in the central Hama province. 214
Read More »The European Commission (EC) decided to release €5.4 million to Jordan to enhance its services for Syrians who had taken refuge in the Kingdom. 216
Read More »Saudi news network Al Arabiya reported that Syrian rebels gained control of a military missile base near Homs and that the majority of soldiers manning the base, including the Alawite commanding offic 217
Read More »In a weekly cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Syrian regime is carrying out a massacre of civilians and added: ""The massacre is not only carried out by the Syrian govern 218
Read More »Quoting their relatives Emirates daily Al-Qabas reported that dozens of Kuwaiti citizens are fighting with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) after crossing into Syria from Turkey. 223
Read More »Following his meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that the conflict in Syria “crisis is dangerous and getting worse, and it is a threat to the S 479
Read More »In a news conference, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said: “A number of Quds Force members are present in Syria and Lebanon... we provide [these countr 482
Read More »UN monitors said Syrian helicopters fired on rebel strongholds north of Homs and said many women and children were reported trapped in the city and called for “immediate and unfettered access” to 227
Read More »Following a meeting of a National Dialogue held by President Michel Suleiman leaders of rival political parties agreed on Monday that the country must not become a base for smuggling arms and insurge 229
Read More »Head of the UN peacekeeping force chief Herve Ladsous admitted that Syria is now in a full-scale civil-war. 231
Read More »Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavroy rejected the claims by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that "there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria." 232
Read More »Addressing a joint press conference in Tehran with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavroy, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Iran said it was determined to support Moscow's attempts to end 234
Read More »Gunmen stormed the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV channel Ikhbariya 20km south of the capital, bombing buildings and shooting dead three employees. 490
Read More »In an interview to Ekho Mosvky Radio Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed taht Russia was supplying repaired combat helicopters to Syria and admitted that a Russian 'ship was carrying air 492
Read More »French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius suggested that in the light of continuing violence in Syria the UNSC must "place the Annan plan under Chapter 7.... That is to say, make it compulsory under pain 237
Read More »Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia has no plans to provide asylum to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and added: "We are not even thinking about it. Those who are trying to plan 493
Read More »Defending the Syrian government's military offensive against rebels in Aleppo the Interfax News Agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying: "How can one expect that the Syrian gove 494
Read More »Quoting Middle Eastern diplomatic sources The Sunday Times reported that Russian technicians were involved in the shotting down of the Turkish fighter jet by the Syrian military last week. 495
Read More »A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle near a revered Sayyida Zeinab Shiite shrine in the capital wounding 14 people and damaging the shrine. 240
Read More »Three powerful explosions rocked central Damascus near Palace of Justice, Syria's highest court. The explosions took place in the car park used by judges and lawyers and injured three persons and dama 496
Read More »Syrian human rights activists called for international intervention to prevent a massacre in the Syrian city of Aleppo, following two days of battles between rebels and regime forces. 499
Read More »Human rights activists said that the Syrian troops have regained control of the rebellious Damascus suburb of Douma after a 10-day assault that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded. 502
Read More »Escalating violence in Syria forced United Nations observers to suspend operations and Chief monitor General Robert Mood said the fighting posed a threat to his unarmed observers, one of whose patrols 247
Read More »Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi acknowledged that the country had chemical weapons, saying it would not use them to crush rebels but could use them. 504
Read More »In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned Syria not to use chemical weapons against the rebels and added Syria had ratified an international protocol in 1968 that bars the use of poison gase 505
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