Submitted by Ruth on Tue, 06/23/2020 - 14:07
By Ali Cinar, TRT World
As the world continues its fight against Covid-19, the suffering in Syria, and some of the bloodiest years in the Middle East, do not abate. We are facing the fact that half a million people have been killed by Assad, and 6.5 million Syrians have been forced into displacement by the conflict.
Neither the United Nations nor the European Union has been able to take the desired steps for the Syrian crisis. Several countries thousands of kilometers away have tried to divide Syria for their own agendas.
Submitted by Ruth on Tue, 06/23/2020 - 13:38
The US is no longer demanding that Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad step down from office, and is instead seeking a radical change in the regime's behavior, President Donald Trump's special envoy for the country's conflict said Monday.
"We are not demanding total victory. We are not saying that Assad has to go," Ambassador James Jeffrey said during a virtual conference hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute think tank.
Submitted by Ruth on Mon, 06/22/2020 - 20:30
The family of Lieutenant-Colonel Hussein Al-Harmoush has denied reports that a photograph of a martyr bearing a strong resemblance to the Free Syrian Army co-founder is of their missing relative after the picture, found among the ‘Caesar’ photos which show detainees tortured to death in Assad regime prisons, was widely circulated online.
Prominent Syrian journalist Hadi Abdullah reported on Monday that numerous social media sites had published the photo of the martyr who died under torture, with many claiming that it showed Al-Harmoush.
Submitted by Ruth on Sat, 06/20/2020 - 17:16
By Steven Heydemann, Brookings Institution
On June 17, the most wide-ranging U.S. sanctions ever applied against Syria went into effect. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, passed into law as part of the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, dramatically expands the authority of the U.S. government to sanction businesses, individuals, and government institutions for economic activities that support the Assad regime’s ability to wage war.
Submitted by Ruth on Sat, 06/20/2020 - 17:16
By Steven Heydemann, Brookings Institution
On June 17, the most wide-ranging U.S. sanctions ever applied against Syria went into effect. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, passed into law as part of the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, dramatically expands the authority of the U.S. government to sanction businesses, individuals, and government institutions for economic activities that support the Assad regime’s ability to wage war.
