Beirut: The US military said Saturday it had killed a senior member of Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch Hurras al-Din, which announced its dissolution last month, in an air strike in the country’s northwest. It is the latest US strike this year against the group in Syria. Along with its Western and Arab allies, the United States … Read more
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and Turkey pledged to deepen cooperation in defense, mining, energy and other sectors during the seventh round of the Pakistan-Turkey High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Islamabad on Thursday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan co-chaired the highest-level bilateral discussion forum with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. After the closed-door delegation-level talks Thursday, … Read more
The future of the United States’ military presence in Syria is in question, with President Donald Trump facing competing demands from Turkey and Israel over the 2,000-strong force that is supporting a Syrian Kurdish-led coalition fighting Islamic State. Israel wants the U.S. to keep supporting Kurdish forces in Syria, while Turkey opposes that strategy. Dorian … Read more
Beirut: Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Monday it would take between four and five years to hold presidential elections, the first time he has laid out a timeline for the vote since he was named transitional president last week. Sharaa, who headed the Islamist rebel group that led a lightning offensive that toppled autocratic President … Read more
Damascus: Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday travelled to Saudi Arabia for his first international visit since the toppling of the Bashar al-Assad regime– a move signalling Damascus’ likely shift away from Iran as its main regional ally. Accompanied by his foreign minister Asaad al-Shaiban, Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, arrived in … Read more
Damascus: Syria’s new authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, accused of orchestrating a crackdown in Daraa, where the 2011 uprising began. Atif Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa in southern Syria, was arrested in Latakia, on the country’s west coast, the official SANA news … Read more
Damascus: Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, promised Thursday to hold a “national dialogue conference” in his first address to the nation since the fall of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa, who was appointed interim president a day earlier for an unspecified transitional period, vowed to preserve “civil peace” and Syria’s territorial unity. “We will announce … Read more
Damascus, Syria: In less than two months, Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa has risen from rebel leader to interim president, after his Islamist group led a lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa was appointed Wednesday to lead Syria for an unspecified transitional period, and has been tasked with forming an interim legislature after the dissolution of … Read more
Damascus: Syria’s new authorities announced Wednesday that Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took the helm after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster last month, has been appointed interim president and tasked with forming a transitional legislature, state media reported. A rebel alliance led by Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, … Read more
DAMASCUS: Syria’s central bank has ordered commercial banks to freeze all accounts tied to people and companies linked to the ousted regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, according to a document seen by Reuters and people familiar with the decision. The circular, issued on Thursday, calls on banks to “freeze all bank accounts of companies … Read more