Syria Archives - Page 4 of 8

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa (C-L) is welcomed by the Syria's new administration leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C-R) during an official visit in Damascus, Syria on January 28, 2025. Photo by Palestinian Prime Ministry/ Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

January 30, 2025 1:35 PM

Syria’s Sharaa declared president for transition, consolidating his power

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, tightening his hold on power less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa was also empowered to form a tempora...

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-democr...

December 31, 2024 10:49 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 ...

December 26, 2024 6:58 PM

Syria’s new rulers declare crackdown as tensions flare in coastal area

Syria's new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue "remnants" of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack, state media reported. The ...

December 24, 2024 7:26 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...

December 20, 2024 11:26 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-f...

December 18, 2024 5:27 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. I...

December 18, 2024 3:41 PM

Syrian mass graves expose “machinery of death” under Assad, top prosecutor says

An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were torture...

December 17, 2024 9:17 PM

France returns flag to Damascus embassy as new Syria authorities build contacts with West

France raised its flag at its Damascus embassy on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years and European Union officials prepared to engage with the new Syrian leadership, a sign of the growing contacts after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president. We...

December 17, 2024 10:22 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. H...