DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria, which has launched significant economic reforms, must now follow up with social changes that will tackle corruption and relieve poverty, economists say.
Their comments come as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marks 10 years in power on Saturday, gaining plaudits for opening up the economy and engaging in a process of rapprochement with the West, but criticism from [...]
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Self-exiled Iraqi radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr visited Damascus on Saturday from his base in Iran for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Iraqi affairs.
During the meeting, Assad urged Iraqi leaders to quickly form a government and put an end to a four-month coalition stalemate, the official SANA news agency reported.
"Any delay to form a (national un [...]
NEW YORK (AFP) - During a decade in power, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not delivered on promises of greater freedoms or rights for his people, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
Assad "has not delivered on his promises to increase public freedoms and improve his government’s human rights record during a decade in power," HRW said in a report on the eve of the anniversary of his [...]
BEIRUT (AFP) - A Syrian opposition activist granted refugee status by the United Nations said Tuesday that Lebanese authorities had ordered him to leave.
"I went to the general security bureau today to reclaim my passport, only to find that the words 'to travel by July 20, 2010' were stamped on it," former Syrian MP Maamun Homsi told AFP.
Homsi, 55, was arrested in Syria in 2001 and jail [...]
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany condemned Wednesday the jailing of a 79-year-old prominent human rights lawyer by a Syrian court and demanded his immediate release.
The German government's human rights commissioner, Markus Loening, said he was "shocked" by the sentencing of Haytham al-Maleh to three years in prison Sunday on charges of "publishing false information".
"Mr Maleh is considered a lea [...]
LONDON (AFP) - More than 50 prisoners are still missing since riots at Syria's Saydnaya prison two years ago led to the deaths of at least 17 prisoners and five military police, Amnesty International said on Monday.
In a report marking the second anniversary of the July 5, 2008 riots at the prison north of Damascus, Amnesty said it was stepping up a campaign "to uncover the truth about al [...]
MADRID (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Spain Sunday for a two-day official visit that follows a tour of Latin America.
Assad and his delegation toured the city of Toledo, the country's picturesque former capital, accompanied by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos after arriving at Madrid's airport, Spanish media said.
He is to have dinner later Sunday with King [...]
DAMASCUS (AFP) - A Syrian court on Sunday jailed for three years a human rights lawyer who worked for Amnesty International for "publishing false information," rights groups said, condemning the ruling.
"The military court on Sunday sentenced Haytham al-Maleh to three years in prison on charges of spreading false information liable to undermine the morale of the nation," the non-governmen [...]
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - The presidents of Argentina and Syria Friday traded words of support for their respective territorial claims on Britain's Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic, and the Golan Heights Israel annexed in 1967.
The mutual back-patting came at the close of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's first tour of Latin America aimed at furthering friendly relations with Venezuela [...]
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States voiced concern Thursday over cooperation between Syria and Iran after reports Tehran had sent a radar system that would boost defenses against Israel.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting anonymous Israeli and US officials, reported that Iran last year sent the sophisticated radar that could help the Islamic republic detect an Israeli strike on its nuclear [...]
Passengers jump out of plane in India after bad landing
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