Syria News Wire

If you are a first time visitor, coming from Kevin Sites’ report…welcome.
American journalist Kevin Sites is posting his final report from Syria this week. He has spent a week in the country, filing video reports about some un-seen aspects of Syrian life: clubbing, the border, free-speech and blogging.
Although simplistic, his analysis has always been insightful [...]

[Read more →]

More reports today of secret negotiations between Bush and the Syrian government.
A senior source in Damascus says that the two countries are talking about a face-saving way for Syria to take the blame for the Hariri investigation.
According to the leaks, Syria would hand over Ghazli and a senior aide, who would be charged with murder. [...]

[Read more →]

More from Kevin Sites as he comes to the end of his week in Syria…
Blog-O-Potamia
Kevin Sites
In the midst of ancient ruins and modern political drama, Syrian bloggers beat out the rhythms of their own lives.
DAMASCUS — He has glasses and the kind of baby face that relatives probably like to pinch. But beneath the mild [...]

[Read more →]

Incredible. Kevin Sites hosts a political debate in Nafaura Cafe in the Old City in Damascus. How many times I myself I have sat here discussing politics. Is this the start of a new Damascus Spring?
Some background: Kevin Sites is an American journalist filing a week-long series of reports from Syria. He’s produced some excellent [...]

[Read more →]

More excellent reporting from Kevin Sites. Today, we’re at Syria’s border with Iraq…here’s a quote to get you in the mood: ” ‘The pouring of fighters on the Syrian border has declined now,’ said Henry Crampton, a U.S. State Department official quoted in a Saudi newspaper. ‘And I believe the Syrians actually took certain measures [...]

[Read more →]

In the second of his dispatches, being serialised on the Syria News Wire, Kevin Sites visits Riad Seif. Seif was recently released from prison, along with a number of other Damascene Spring captives. Seif was a member of parliament at the time of his capture in 2001.
Kevin Sites is filing a series of video reports [...]

[Read more →]

Thanks to Ayman for pointing this one out. American journalist Kevin Sites is travelling to ‘Hot Zones’ around the world. This week, he’s presenting a series of insightful dispatches from Syria. (Which is apparently a ‘Hot Zone’ because of the international spotlight focussed on it).
In his first dispatch, he visits Mar Mar, a well-established club [...]

[Read more →]

In the past few minutes, the UN Security Council has placed an astonishing set of demands on the Beirut government.
First it wants the government of Fouad Siniora to disarm Hizbollah – something he said he will not do.
Second it wants the Syria-Lebanon border to be closed. The UN wants to halt the flow of arms [...]

[Read more →]

American fast-food chain Kentucky fried Chicken has opened its first branch in Syria, despite US economic sanctions preventing it.
It comes just months after Coca Cola and Pepsi took advantage of Syria’s economic liberalisation. Previously American goods had to be smuggled in from Lebanon.
The Damascus KFC is owned by a Kuwati – Nasser Khourafi – who [...]

[Read more →]

Syria has called for a Hariri-like UN investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat. Bashar accused Israel of assasinating him, in a speech on Saturday.
There were persistent allegations of sabotage – most likely through poisoning – a year ago. And his cause of death was never clear.
Meanwhile, Israel says the Tel Aviv bombing was planned [...]

[Read more →]