Articles written by bassem mroue
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Syria FM: Iran has no combat forces, bases in the country
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's foreign minister said Saturday Iranian military advisers are embedded with Syrian troops but Tehran has no combat forces or fixed bases in the country. Walid al-Moallem's comments came amid rising tension in the r...
Chemical arms experts in Syria go to site of alleged attack
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — International chemical weapons inspectors Tuesday entered Douma, the Syrian town that was the site of a suspected poison gas attack that led to Western airstrikes against the Syrian government, state media reported. The team f...
Inspectors head to site of suspected gas attack in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog was on its way to Syria on Thursday to begin an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack near the capital that has brought the war-torn country...
Inspectors head to site of suspected gas attack in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog was on its way to Syria on Thursday to begin an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack near the capital that has brought the war-torn country...
AP News Guide: Potential for escalation in Syria abounds
BEIRUT (AP) — With the Middle East on edge and many fearing inadvertent triggering of a regional war, it's easy to forget that not so long ago President Donald Trump shocked advisers by declaring his intention to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria a...
Chemical weapons experts to inspect attack site in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — The international chemical weapons watchdog said Tuesday it was sending a fact-finding mission to the Syrian town where a suspected chemical gas attack took place over the weekend, following a request from the Syrian government and its...
Syrian army declares victory as rebels vacate most of Ghouta
BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian army declared victory in eastern Ghouta Saturday after opposition fighters evacuated from most of the area near the capital except for the town of Douma where negotiations are still underway for rebels there to leave or f...
Hundreds gather to leave second pocket in Syria's Ghouta
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of members of a rebel group and their relatives boarded Saturday 17 buses in preparation to leave eastern Ghouta to opposition-held areas north of the country Saturday as part of an agreement to evacuate the second of three poc...
Defeated rebels begin leaving enclave near Syrian capital
BEIRUT (AP) — Carrying their light arms, hundreds of defeated rebels began evacuating with their families Thursday from a devastated town in eastern Ghouta, an effective surrender under a deal with the government after a long siege and bombing c...
Deal reached to evacuate second pocket of Syria's Ghouta
BEIRUT (AP) — An agreement was reached Friday to evacuate the second of three pockets held by opposition fighters east of the capital Damascus hours after the main rebel group in the area declared a cease-fire to give negotiations with the R...
In Syria, at least 100 killed in attacks as more people flee
BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes in Syria killed more than 100 people on Friday as civilians, weary and many wounded, fled besieged areas for the second straight day. Syrian government forces stepped up their offensive in the rebel-held eastern suburbs of t...
Syria aid convoy on hold, top UN official appeals for calm
BEIRUT (AP) — A top U.N. aid official appealed to the Syrian government and its Russian backers for a cessation of hostilities in eastern Ghouta on Thursday when a second convoy with desperately needed aid was postponed after government forces s...
Aid delivered to Syria's Ghouta amid renewed violence
BEIRUT (AP) — An aid convoy crossed into the embattled rebel-held suburbs of Damascus Friday, delivering desperately needed aid despite heavy fighting that broke out "extremely close" to the convoy and renewed airstrikes by the Syrian government. T...
UN official: Pauses in Syria suburb unilateral, 'not enough'
BEIRUT (AP) — The five-hour daily pauses in fighting in Syria's embattled eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus — laid out under a "unilateral" plan by Russia — are not enough to take in aid or evacuate civilians, a top U.N. aid official said...
Turkish airstrike kills pro-government gunmen in north Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey's air force hit two positions of pro-government Syrian fighters deployed last week in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, killing and wounding a number of fighters in an escalation of violence in a region where Turkey has been on t...
Damascus suburb strikes kill scores, UN votes for cease-fire
BEIRUT (AP) — A new wave of airstrikes and shelling on eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus left at least 22 people dead and dozens wounded Saturday, raising the death toll of a week of bombing in the area to 500, as the U.N. Security Counc...
More than 100 killed in Syria assault on Damascus suburb
BEIRUT (AP) — Intense Syrian government shelling and airstrikes on rebel-held Damascus suburbs killed nearly 130 people in two days, marking some of the deadliest bombardment of the rebellious region in three years, a monitoring group and p...
Nearly 4 years on, much of Syrian rebel 'capital' abandoned
HOMS, Syria (AP) — Sumaya Bairuty walked through abandoned streets pocked with shell craters amid rows of destroyed buildings, at times climbing over giant sand barriers before reaching her parent's apartment in the once rebel-held district of Bab D...
On surprise Russia trip, Assad and Putin talk post-war Syria
MOSCOW (AP) — On a surprise trip to Russia, Syria's Bashar Assad discussed potential new peace initiatives for post-war Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin who declared that Russia's two-year military campaign in Syria is wrapping up, the K...
Anti-corruption campaign in Saudi brings hope to businessmen
ADMA, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon-based businessmen who lost enterprises through dealings with members of Saudi Arabia's royal family and others in the kingdom are closely watching a new campaign led by the powerful crown prince targeting officials, p...
Lebanese PM's fate in doubt amid Saudi-Lebanon escalation
BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday ordered its citizens out of Lebanon in its first concrete action against the Mediterranean country, while officials in Beirut demanded the immediate return of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who abruptly a...
US joins calls for PM's return to Lebanon from Saudi Arabia
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese officials insisted Friday on the return home of Prime Minister Saad Hariri from Saudi Arabia, and the leader of the militant group Hezbollah said the Saudis had "declared war" on Lebanon by holding Hariri against his will. T...
Report: IS leader may be in eastern Syrian city of Boukamal
BEIRUT (AP) — A media outlet linked to the Syrian military said Friday that the Islamic State group's leader may be holed up in an IS pocket in the eastern town of Boukamal, which government forces and their allies recaptured this week before losing...
Devastation in Raqqa raises questions about cost of victory
BEIRUT (AP) — Kurdish-led forces on Friday declared victory over the Islamic State group in Raqqa, the former "capital" of its self-proclaimed caliphate where militants had terrorized the population for four years — setting up a climactic last stand...
Airstrikes on IS-held areas in Syria kill and wound dozens
BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes on villages and towns held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria have killed and wounded dozens a day after an attack by the extremists killed more than 120 pro-government fighters and briefly cut off the highway l...
