Syria News Wire

(Photo: John Wreford)
Tareq Al-Hashemi, one of Iraq’s Vice-Presidents has been campaigning in Syria, ahead of Sunday’s election.
He spoke to thousands of Iraqi refugees at the Jalaa sports stadium in Damascus this afternoon.

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This Washington Post editorial speaks volumes of the battle going on behind the scenes to stop Obama, Mitchell and Feltman pushing their rapprochement with Syria.
Commentators have been asking why it has taken a year for Obama to even send an ambassador to Damascus when he made this a key part of his election campaign. This editorial should [...]

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This is a classic video from the 2008 Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.
With Bashar as Sarkozy’s guest of honour, the Syrian President narrowly avoids shaking Ehud Olmert’s hand. Twice. Olmert is moving along the line shaking hands with each person he meets. He is one person away from Bashar, when the Syrian President makes a [...]

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There will be a demonstration in London on New Year’s Eve against the Egyptian government.
The Mubarak regime is supporting the apartheid government of Israel by blocking the Viva Palestina convoy, and enforcing the Israeli siege of Gaza. Egypt is acting as Israel’s policeman, as it has done for the past year and a half.
They are [...]

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One year ago today Israel started its massacre.
It began with an air raid on a police station in Gaza. 40 were killed in a single second.
One month later, and only after George Bush left office, 1400 people’s lives had been stolen by a religiously-driven political project. A sixty-year experiment in ethnic cleansing.
Now, those same leaders [...]

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A ship carrying 83 people has sunk just 20km from Tartous.
It was sailing through a thunderstorm at the time. A search is under way, with British helicopters and rescue teams from Cyprus joining in the hunt for the Panamanian vessel.
19 people have been rescued so far. The crew is mostly Filipino and Pakistani. At least [...]

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The International Crisis Group has published a report on Syria’s changing foreign policy. It’s conclusion: now is the time for the US to engage.
First, a note on the ICG. The ICG has always been relatively friendly towards Syria, and this latest report is no different. Indeed, it’s Middle East Programme Director, Robert Malley is half-Syrian, [...]

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A British court has issued an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, who was Foreign Minister of Israel during the Gaza massacre one year ago.
The court was acting under the 4th Geneva Convention, which states that anyone who commits an alleged war crime, anywhere in the world, can face trial. The warrant was withdrawn when it [...]

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Two separate sources claim to know the name of the new American ambassador to Damascus. Well, they’ve got it down to two names, at least.
The long-awaited move would be the formal end of America’s isolation of Syria, which started when Bush recalled their ambassador two days after Rafiq Hariri was killed.
FW Magazine claims a scoop, [...]

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The Economist sums up Bashar Al-Assad’s first ten years in power. Its conclusion: Syria has won. It has surmounted some apparently impossible challenges and come out on top.
Apparently on the brink of regime change in 2004/2005, a string of international leaders now pay visits to Damascus. Rather than swinging Syria into the ‘moderate’ camp, Saudi [...]

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