A Damascus criminal court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia Tuesday after convicting him of murder, torture, arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity. This was the first judgment issued by Syria’s own courts against the head
Cease-Fire Agreement for Syria to Take Effect on Saturday
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement announced today by United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) Ceasefire Taskforce, on the terms of a…
CIA and Mossad killed senior Hezbollah figure in car bombing – The Washington Post
On Feb. 12, 2008, Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah s international operations chief, walked on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after dinner at a nearby restaurant. Not far away, a team of CIA spotters in the Syrian capital was tracking his…
92.5% of Syria’s Chemical Weapons Removed or Destroyed
Nearly eight per cent of Syria's declared chemical weapons material remains on its territory and should be removed in the shortest possible timeframe, despite the difficult security situation, the head of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition…
Seymour M. Hersh · Whose sarin? · LRB 19 December 2013
Barack Obama did not tell the whole story this autumn when he tried to make the case that Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack near Damascus on 21 August. In some instances, he omitted important intelligence, and…
France Calls on Permanent Members of the Security Council to Renounce Veto in Cases of Mass Crimes
French President François Hollande today called for a UN Security resolution that would authorize the potential use of force if Syria fails to comply with its agreement to hand over its chemical weapons following the last month’s sarin gas attack…
UN Team Reports Clear and Convincing Evidence of Chemical Weapons Use
A United Nations team probing the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria has found “clear and convincing evidence” that Sarin gas was used in an incident that occurred on 21 August in the Ghouta area on the outskirts of…
The United Nations-Arab League Envoy for Syria Warns Against Military Intervention in Syria
The joint United Nations-Arab League Envoy for Syria said today that while evidence suggests “some form of substance” was used in an incident that may have killed more than 1,000 people on the outskirts of Damascus last week, any military…
UN Inspectors Reach Site of Suspected Chemical Weapons Attack
The team of United Nations inspectors probing the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria spent its first day in the suburbs of Damascus at the site of the alleged incident, interviewing witnesses, survivors and doctors, and collecting samples, Secretary-General…
More Violence in Syria
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed by the continued dramatic escalation of violence in Syria over the past several days, and the grave danger facing civilians in areas under fire, according to his spokesperson. There have been “extremely worrisome” reports earlier…