Category Archives: Syria

Syrian casualties treated in Turkeyshow signs of being victims of chemical weapons, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday, adding to indications that President Barack Obama’s “red line” on the use of such arms may have been crossed. Wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States says it wants proof that chemical weapons have been used before taking any action in Syria. But if the evidence is confirmed it would increase the possibility of Western intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the two-year civil war, even as the United States and Russia try to bring the sides to peace talks. … Continue reading →

Confusion surrounds the whereabouts of two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria on Monday, but who were said to have been freed on Tuesday. There were reports that the two men, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were back in the city of Aleppo. But other sources with links to the bishops have told the BBC this is not so and their families are still worried about their whereabouts. They had been returning from the Turkish border when they were seized. It was not immediately clear who had kidnapped them. Bishop Ibrahim is the head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, while Bishop Yaziji leads the city’s Greek Orthodox Church. They … Continue reading →

A senior Israeli military intelligence official said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons last month in his battle against insurgent groups. It was the first time that Israel has accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons. Israel’s assessment, based on visual evidence of alleged attacks, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad’s government had used chemical weapons. Although the U.S. says it has not been able to verify these claims, President Barack Obama has warned that the introduction of chemical weapons … Continue reading →

Syria’s opposition National Coalition has taken the country’s official seat at the Arab League summit in Qatar. The delegation led by Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, who has said he will resign as head of the coalition, was applauded as it formally assumed the seat. Mr Khatib was joined by the National Coalition’s vice-presidents, George Sabra and Suheir Atassi, and its recently-elected interim prime minister, Ghassan Hitto. Mr Khatib called it “part of the restoration of legitimacy” of which Syrians had “long been robbed”. Later, the Arab League authorised member states to give military support to Syrian rebel groups. A resolution said the summit affirmed the “right of every state to offer … Continue reading →

The leader of the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, has resigned. Mr Khatib wrote on Facebook that world powers had failed to help the rebels, and he could only improve the situation by working outside of the coalition. Analysts say Mr Khatib believed the SNC was too heavily influenced by Islamists and foreign powers like Qatar. However, a later report claimed that the SNC had refused his resignation and expected him to continue in his post. The BBC’s Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the issue that brought matters to a head appears to have been last week’s election of a prime minister for an interim opposition … Continue reading →