Beirut: Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, state media and activists said, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital.
Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, the latest in a series of rebel attacks on government targets including a December bombing which wounded Assad's interior minister.
Halki wields little power but the attack highlighted the rebels' growing ability to target symbols of Assad's authority in a civil war which has cost more than 70,000 lives, according to the United Nations.
Assad picked Halki in August to replace Riyadh Hijab, who defected and escaped to neighbouring Jordan just weeks after a Damascus bombing which killed four of the president's top security advisers....
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08:10 PM, Apr 29, 2013
As Syria continues to be in a state of civil war, stories of tragedy and despair are emerging from its cities. ...
09:09 AM, Aug 13, 2012
United Nations: Russia remained at loggerheads with the US and its European allies ahead of a scheduled vote on Wednesday afternoon on a new Syria resolution and there appeared to be little hope that the UN's most powerful body would unite behind a plan to end the 17-month civil war in the country. The key stumbling block is the Western demand for a resolution threatening non-military sanctions and tied to...
11:09 AM, Jul 18, 2012
Beirut: President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday Syria would spare no effort to ensure the success of international envoy Kofi Annan's peace mission but warned it would not work without securing an end to foreign funding and arming of rebels opposing him. Assad is under international pressure to call his troops and tanks back to their bases, a year into a popular revolt against his rule. Fighting between troops and...
10:07 AM, Mar 30, 2012
Beirut: President Bashar al Assad said on Thursday Syria would spare no effort to ensure the success of international envoy Kofi Annan's peace mission but warned it would not work without securing an end to foreign funding and arming of rebels opposing him. Assad is under international pressure to call his troops and tanks back to their bases, a year into a popular revolt against his rule. Fighting between troops...
03:44 AM, Mar 30, 2012
New York: Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy for Syria, is set to meet President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to press for an immediate end to violence that has killed thousands of people in the country in the past one year. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he spoke on phone to Annan and Secretary General of the League of Arab States Nabil ElAraby and discussed concerns of the international...
11:35 AM, Mar 10, 2012
A case is being built to justify a Libya-style military intervention in Syria. Even the Arab League has suspended its observer mission in Syria. Will the country go the Libya way? Watch CNN-IBN's global affairs show, World View, on Saturday at 10 pm to know the answer. ...
09:40 AM, Feb 26, 2012
Over 90 people were killed in Homs in Syria on Friday. ...
09:27 AM, Feb 25, 2012
A case is being built to justify a Libya-style military intervention in Syria. Even the Arab League has suspended its observer mission in Syria. Will the country go the Libya way? Watch CNN-IBN's global affairs show, World View, on Saturday at 10 pm to know the answer. ...
05:22 PM, Feb 23, 2012
China and Russia have blocked a UN resolution that called for the immediate end to violence in Syria. ...
08:15 AM, Feb 05, 2012
Beirut: The Arab League halted its observer mission to Syria on Saturday, sharply criticising the regime of President Bashar Assad for escalating violence in recent days that has killed nearly 100 people across the country. The rising bloodshed has added urgency to new attempts by Arab and Western countries to find a resolution to the 10 months of violence that according to the United Nations has killed at least 5,400...
11:46 PM, Jan 28, 2012
United Nations: The Arab League chief and the Qatari prime minister will present an Arab peace plan for Syria to ambassadors in the UN Security Council in New York early next week, the council president said on Thursday. South Africa's UN Ambassador Baso Sangqu told reporters in New York that the meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim...
04:56 AM, Jan 27, 2012
Harasta: Syrian troops battled rebels in a town just north of Damascus on Thursday and a provincial governor spoke of negotiating local ceasefires as a 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad crept close to the capital. A Syrian officer told Reuters clashes had been under way in Douma since the morning. Security forces were searching houses for arms and wanted suspects. Reporters were shown home-made grenades among other seized weapons....
02:02 AM, Jan 27, 2012
Beirut: Syria rejected on Monday a request by Arab League foreign ministers that President Bashar al Assad hand over power to a deputy and set up a new unity government, saying the plan was part of a "conspiracy against Syria". "Syria rejects the decisions of the Arab League ministerial council... and considers them a violation of its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in its internal affairs," state news agency...
02:01 PM, Jan 23, 2012
Beirut: A clash between Syrian forces and army defectors today erupted in a suburb of the tightly held capital of Damascus, adding urgency just as the Arab League was extending an observers' mission that so far has failed to end long months of bloody violence. The two events outlined how an uprising against President Bashar Assad that started with mass popular protests is moving now toward an armed conflict that...
12:08 AM, Jan 23, 2012
Beirut: After days of punishing assaults, Syria's army began withdrawing tanks from the restive city of Homs on Tuesday just as a team of Arab League observers was on its way to the central city, according to activists and an Arab official. Opposition activist Mohammed Saleh said the heavy bombardment of Homs stopped on Tuesday morning and tanks were seen pulling out of the streets. Another Homs-based activist said he...
03:15 PM, Dec 27, 2011
Beirut: Newly-arrived Arab League peace monitors will try to see for themselves the situation in Syria's city of Homs, which opponents of President Bashar al-Assad say has been pulverised by government troops and tanks in recent days. At least 31 people were killed in the city on Monday as tanks fired into districts where opposition has been strongest to President Bashar al-Assad's rule, activists said. Assad's opponents fear that the...
12:41 PM, Dec 27, 2011
Washington: The US on Wednesday warned of greater international action to stop the crackdown by Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria and said neither the Syrian people nor the global community accepted his government's legitimacy any more. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Assad regime is already facing growing isolation and sanctions that are choking off its resources. "We urge Syria's few remaining supporters in the international community...
03:54 AM, Dec 22, 2011
Beirut: Syria's government, facing sanctions for killing thousands of protesters, agreed on Monday to let foreigners monitor its compliance with an Arab League peace agreement intended to promote political dialogue. The main opposition to President Bashar al-Assad dismissed as a further stalling tactic an agreement which Damascus said was prompted by advice from Russia, a rare, powerful ally, which has shown signs of losing patience. Syria's foreign minister also said...
01:34 AM, Dec 20, 2011
Beirut: Syria said on Sunday it is still negotiating with the Arab League over the bloc's request to send observers into the country, as tightening sanctions by Arab and other nations fail to halt the eight-month crackdown on anti-government protesters. A Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested some headway had been made, but there was no official announcement on whether Syria would sign the agreement. New violence killed at least nine people...
03:46 AM, Dec 05, 2011
