Ruth Pollard
Ruth Pollard is the Middle East Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Her job takes her throughout the Middle East and North Africa, reporting on the Arab revolutions from Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia and on the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Tragedy of young lives lost remembered in Gallipoli
Ruth Pollard As thousands gathered along the tiny stretch of coast where so many Australians died on the unforgiving battlefields of Gallipoli, a clear dawn sky emerged out of the cold, moonlit night and a hush...
Sacred but troubled Easter feast
Ruth Pollard The wings of an angel curl around his shoulders and the image of a large cross travels down his spine, accompanied by 16 lines of prayer in the ancient script of Aramaic.
Ruth Pollard
Searching for refuge in a land where there are no safe places
Ruth Pollard AS THE night-time temperature in Syria drops closer to freezing and the rains begin, it is difficult to imagine how those who have barely survived without electricity, water or enough food this year...
Turkey authorises military strikes in Syria as border tension spikes
Ruth Pollard Under constant provocation from the Assad regime and shouldering the burden of as many as 150,000 refugees in its camps and towns, Turkey was becoming increasingly unnerved by the worsening security...
Bloody battle for Syria's commercial city
Ruth Pollard THE fierce battle for control of Syria's second city, Aleppo, is now fought street by street, as the Syrian Army rushes more troops and tanks to the area and fighter jets fly over the city, firing on...
'Syria is stronger': troops fight to regain ground in Aleppo
Ruth Pollard, Antakya With thousands of refugees streaming across Syria's borders into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, Syrian government forces continued to pound the country's commercial capital, Aleppo, in a bid to...
Deaths rise as Assad's army pounds Aleppo
Ruth Pollard ANTAKYA, Turkey: Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad bombarded the northern city of Aleppo overnight, with constant helicopter machinegun fire and heavy shelling continuing across many neighbourhoods...
Syria's top diplomat in London defects over 'violent and oppressive' regime
Ruth Pollard in Antakya, Turkey Syria's most senior diplomat in Britain has announced his defection, saying he can no longer represent a regime that has “committed such violent and oppressive acts against its own...
Syrian rebels dispute loss to army as envoy defects
Ruth Pollard Syria's opposition and observers dispute the government's claims it has regained control of parts of Aleppo after another day of shelling and clashes in its largest city.
Hopes fade for crisis talks as Syrian conflict worsens
Ruth Pollard In the face of a dramatically deteriorating conflict in Syria, major powers are set to meet in Geneva today to discuss a UN plan for an interim transitional government.
Bomb attack claims fourth Assad aide as rebels gain ground
Ruth Pollard Thousands flee Syria as news confirmed that the head of the country's security was a victim of Wednesday's bombing attack by rebels.
Soft touch as Syria may tip region
Ruth Pollard The besuited diplomats sit stiffly in the white plastic chairs, while around them, Syrian men bow their heads in grief.
Call for controlled collapse in Syria or face war
Ruth Pollard The suited diplomats sit stiffly in white plastic chairs, while around them Syrian men bow in grief.
Laughter, joy, relief and unspeakable memories
Ruth Pollard IT WAS a reunion neither saw coming. In the yards of the notorious Abu Salim prison, the site of the massacre in 1996 of 1200 prisoners and countless abuses at the hands of Muammar Gaddafi's regime,...
Victorious rebels consolidate their grip on Libya's capital
Ruth Pollard in Libya NALUT, Libya: As the rebels cemented their hold on the capital, Tripoli, and fought fierce pockets of resistance from pro-Gaddafi forces, Libyans were trying to come to grips with the moment some...
Tripoli tastes freedom as Gaddafi goes to ground
Ruth Pollard in Tunisia and Damien McElroy in Tripoli Black smoke pours from Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli and celebrations begin anew as the Libyan capital falls to the anti-government rebels.
As Syria bleeds
Ruth Pollard, Tripoli The subdued, early morning, grey-blue sky is mesmerisingly calm on the live webcam that is trained across the rooftops of the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
Syrian conflict attracting foreign fighters, weapons
Ruth Pollard, Beirut Syria has become a magnet for foreign fighters, with al-Qaeda aligned jihadists streaming across the border from Iraq and rebel soldiers from the Libyan city of Misrata crossing in from Turkey,...
