Bashar Al Assad
Assad forces rally against fractured opposition
Ruth Sherlock, Richard Spencer The posters of President Bashar al-Assad hang over the streets of Damascus a little prouder these days.
Bashar al-Assad: 'I must live and die in Syria'
Richard Spencer, Ruth Sherlock and Damien McElroy President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has dismissed David Cameron's offer of safe passage out of the country.
US to Assad: talk peace in Syria or we help rebels
Ruth Pollard The United States warned it will offer further support to Syria's embattled opposition if President Bashar al-Assad failed to get behind a US and Russia-driven peace initiative in Geneva next month.
Syrian war spilling over borders
Ruth Pollard Tensions are rising along Syria's borders as government forces battle to regain control of a strategic border town from rebel fighters.
Israel, Syrian army exchange gunfire
Ruth Pollard Tensions have risen along Syria’s now-volatile southern border with Israel after an exchange of artillery fire in the Golan Heights.
Russia defiant over missile sales to Syria
Tom Parfitt Russia has defiantly rejected criticism of its arms supplies to Syria after it was reported that Moscow was supplying improved ''ship-killing'' missiles to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad troops storm key stronghold
DAMASCUS: Syrian troops backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah have entered Qusair, a strategic rebel stronghold linking Damascus to the coast, a day after President Bashar al-Assad insisted he would not quit.
Three Syrias emerge on sectarian lines
Ben Hubbard Cairo: The black flag of jihad flies over much of northern Syria. In the centre of the country, pro-government militias and Hezbollah fighters battle those who threaten their communities.
Nine held over Turkish bombings
Kareem Fahim and Sebnem Arsu REYHANLI, Turkey: Nine people have been detained over Saturday's twin car bombings in southern Turkey that killed 46 people, as funerals were held for at least 20 of the victims in this town near the...
Syrian rebel eats heart of regime soldier
Ruth Sherlock in Damascus and Richard Spencer A Syrian rebel militia leader filmed cutting the heart and organs out of a regime soldier's body and putting it in his mouth has defended his actions as legitimate vengeance.
High stakes, hidden foes in Israel's intervention
Ruth Pollard It is just under seven years since the skies over Lebanon roared with the sound of Israeli fighter jets and missiles rained down on both sides in a furious 34-day war.
No US troops in Syria: Obama
US President Barack Obama refused to rule out any options to deal with the war in Syria but said he did not foresee deploying US troops if the regime is proven to have used chemical weapons.
Second Israeli strike on Syria reported
Israel has carried out a rocket attack on the Jamraya scientific research centre in Damascus, the official Syrian news agency SANA says.
Hundreds flee Syrian massacres
Erika Solomon BEIRUT: Hundreds of Sunni Muslim families have fled the Syrian coastal town of Banias after fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 62 people overnight and left bloodied and...
Damascus attack sparks fear of escalation
Ruth Pollard Israeli jets appear to have attacked a military centre on the outskirts of Damascus. If confirmed, it would be its second strike inside Syria in the past three days.
Israel attacks military sites in Syria
Ruth Pollard Israeli jets have attacked a military centre on the outskirts of Damascus, the second strike inside Syria in the past three days.
Fears of Hezbollah retaliation
Anne Barnard The Syrian government has publicly condemned Israel for a powerful air assault on military targets near Damascus, saying it had ''opened the door to all possibilities'', as fear spread throughout the...
US sticks to cautious line on Syria
The US is insisting it will not be thrown off its cautious approach to Syria, despite Israeli military strikes near Damascus and new questions about the use of chemical weapons in the civil war.
US and Russia agree on Syrian peace conference
The United States and Russia have agreed to hold an international conference in search of peace in Syria and push both sides in the conflict to find a negotiated solution.
UK aims to host Syria peace talks
Robert Winnett, Tom Parfitt and Colin Freeman David Cameron is seeking to convene an emergency summit in Britain aimed at brokering a deal to end the escalating conflict in Syria.
