Syria

Vladimir Putin faces isolation over Syria as G8 ratchets up pressure

Enniskillen (Northern Ireland): Russian President Vladimir Putin faced further isolation on the second day of a G8 summit on Tuesday as world leaders lined up to pressure him into toning down his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Following an icy encounter between the Kremlin chief and US President Barack Obama late on Monday, the G8 leaders will seek to find resolution to a war that has prompted powers across the Middle East to square off on sectarian lines.

The sticking point again will be Putin, who faced a barrage of criticism from Western leaders for supporting Assad and the Syrian's president's attempt to crush a 2-year-old uprising in which at least 93,000 people have been killed.

"It's a clarifying moment to see what kind of commitments the Russians are willing to make in a leading world forum," a British official said before the leaders met for dinner at a remote, heavily guarded golf course outside of Enniskillen....more    

West arming Syrian rebels who eat human flesh, says Putin

Amman: Russian President Vladimir Putin, arriving in Britain ahead of an international summit set to be dominated by disagreement over the US decision to send weapons to Syria's rebels, said the West must not arm fighters who eat human flesh. In Syria, rebels fought back on Sunday against forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese Hezbollah allies near Aleppo, where Assad has announced a campaign to recapture the rebel-held...  

Obama, Putin face difficult talks on Syria at G8 conference

Washington: After authorizing US weapons for rebels in Syria, President Barack Obama faces difficult talks on ending the civil war there when he meets next week with the Syrian government's most powerful ally: Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pair will hold their first private, face-to-face meeting in a year on Monday at the G8 conference in Northern Ireland, the White House said on Friday. Obama will focus on finding common...  

United States considers a no-fly zone in Syria

Ankara: The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria, potentially its first direct intervention into the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas. After months of deliberation, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to...  

Syrian government and rebels recruit children to fight, says UN

United Nations: Syrian troops and rebels are recruiting children to fight in the country's civil war and some have been tortured by government forces for having links to the opposition, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report on Wednesday. The report issued after Ban's special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, visited Syria in December said thousands of children have been killed in the violence, "while thousands...  

United States holds high-level meetings on Syria

Washington: The United States could decide as early as this week whether to arm Syrian rebels, US officials said on Monday, as Secretary of State John Kerry put off a Middle East trip to attend meetings on the subject. The battlefield has tilted against the rebels in the Syrian civil war as Lebanese Hezbollah has entered the fray on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, helping his forces retake...  

Bombs and battles hit northern Iraq, more than 70 dead

Baghdad: Insurgents struck cities across Iraq on Monday with car bombs, suicide attacks and gun battles, killing more than 70 people in worsening sectarian violence. No group claimed responsibility for the day-long attacks, most of them in northern Iraq, but officials blame much of the violence that has killed nearly 2,000 people since April on Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda's local wing. The bloodshed has accompanied rising political...  

Syria: Libya's army chief resigns after clash in Benghazi

Tripoli: Libya's army chief of staff resigned on Sunday as an elite military unit took control of a base of pro-government militias after clashes killed 31 people in the eastern city of Benghazi. The developments underlined the security chaos in Libya more than a year and a half after longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in a civil war. The violence broke out on Saturday when protesters stormed a base...  

Austria to quit UN's Golan force over Syria violence

Beirut: Austria said on Thursday it would pull out of a UN force on the Golan Heights after battles between Syrian troops and rebels there, in a blow to a mission that has kept the Israeli-Syrian war front quiet for 40 years. Israel, anxious for the international mission to remain in place, worried that the Golan could become a springboard for attacks on Israelis by Islamist militants fighting to oust...  

US: Syrian rebels lose strategic town in boost for Assad

Qusair: Syrian government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies seized control of the border town of Qusair on Wednesday, a severe setback to rebel fighters battling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Two weeks of heavy fighting reduced much of the town to piles of concrete, whole blocks flattened by shelling, with glass and rubble littering the roads as tired, delighted Syrian soldiers gathered at the bullet-riddled clock tower. Street after...  

Assad regime used chemical weapons in Syria: France

Amman: France said on Tuesday it had performed tests that proved President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used nerve gas in Syria's civil war, a "red line" that the United States and other countries have repeatedly said would demand a response. Washington separately said it would deploy Patriot missiles and F-16 fighter jets to Syria's neighbour Jordan for a military exercise and perhaps longer. Russia, Assad's main international backer, criticized the...  

US seeks more evidence on use of chemical weapons in Syria

Washington: United States needs to gather more evidence on use of chemical weapons in Syria before President Barack Obama can determine that a 'red line' has been crossed and necessary action needs to be taken, his spokesman said. France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had on Tuesday said that the deadly nerve agent sarin gas has been used several times during the conflict in Syria, citing tests carried out by a...  

Tests prove Syria used nerve gas in civil war, says France

Amman: France said on Tuesday it had performed tests that proved President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used nerve gas in Syria's civil war, a "red line" that the United States and other countries have repeatedly said would demand a response. Washington separately said it would deploy Patriot missiles and F-16 fighter jets to Syria's neighbour Jordan for a military exercise and perhaps longer. Russia, Assad's main international backer, criticized the...  

More than 7,000 Syrian refugees return from Iraq

Baghdad: More than 7,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq have crossed back to the rebel-held Syrian border town of Albu Kamal in recent weeks due to better security there, an Iraqi official said on Sunday. The reverse flow coincides with a lull in battles and air raids by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military, which has been on the offensive elsewhere in Syria, especially in the western town of Qusair, around Damascus...  

No future for Bashar al-Assad in Syria: US

Washington: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no role in the future of the war-torn country and he has no other option but to go, the US has said. "We have said that Assad must go and that there is no future for him in Syria. That is not just our opinion, but that is the will of the Syrian people that they've made clear, and that is for a variety...  

World View: Is Syrian crisis beginning of a bigger war?

This week on World View - Europe and US prepare to arm Syrian rebels as Russia lands missiles for Assad's regime: Is this the beginning of a bigger war? ...

UN rights body condemns Syria at heated debate

Geneva: The United Nations urged Syria on Wednesday to cease heavy weapons attacks on civilians in the rebel-held town of Qusair, in a heated debate that underlined deep divisions among powers even as they seek to convene peace talks in the coming weeks. The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution brought by Qatar, Turkey and the United States, but Damascus and allies Russia and Iran warned that the condemnation...  

'Assad says Syria received Russian missile shipment'

Beirut: Syria has received the first shipment of a sophisticated air defence system from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying, sending a signal of military strength days before an EU arms embargo on the country lapses. Russia had promised delivery of the S-300 missile system to the Syrian government despite Western objections, saying the move would help stabilise the regional balance at a time of insurgency in Syria...  

Peace talks must mean Assad's exit: Syrian opposition

Istanbul: The Syrian opposition said on Wednesday it would only take part in planned international peace talks if a deadline was set for a settlement that forces President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. In its first official reaction to the Geneva conference being prepared by the United States and Russia, the opposition coalition adopted a declaration calling for "binding international guarantees" for any resolution of Syria's two-year-old conflict. The statement,...  

EU ends arms embargo on Syrian opposition

London: The European Union said its member states within days will be able to send weapons to help Syria's outgunned rebels, seeking to pressure President Bashar Assad's regime ahead of planned peace talks mediated by the United States and Russia. Though no EU country has any such plans now to send arms, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the decision "sends a very strong message from Europe to the Assad...