Syrian Sunnis, Shiites caught up in kidnapping tit-for-tat

In a rickety office building once used by agricultural engineers in the village of Hazano, rebels with the Missiles of Justice militia waited to hear word of negotiations about a hostage swap that night. (more…)

Rift develops in Syrian opposition group

Prominent members of the main Syrian National Council formed a splinter organisation on Sunday, exposing the most serious rift among President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents since a popular uprising against his repressive rule erupted in March. (more…)

Opinion: How to bring down Assad

At the end of a week when more brave reporters died chronicling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s slaughter of his countrymen, you hear passionate calls for sending weapons to the “Free Syrian Army.”

As Syria burns, Lebanon feels the heat

The tensions between the two neighborhoods were building for days in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. On one side live Sunni Muslims who hate the Syrian regime. On the hill above are members of the Alawite sect, Bashar Assad’s strongest backers.
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Threats of war cloud hopes for ME as Syria expected to explode

Fears of an as-yet-undefined Middle Eastern war are darkening the horizons of a Middle East that only a year ago was celebrating the fall of dictators, the ascent of people power and the promise of a new era of democracy. (more…)

Truce declared in Tripoli between Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that a truce sponsored by the Lebanese army begins at 4:00 p.m. between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

This comes after clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods continued on Saturday and resulted in the killing of one person and in the wounding of several including three soldiers . (more…)

As Syria bleeds, neighbors brace for refugees

When the Syrian refugees first came into his Lebanese border town, Abdullah Taseer found them rooms in people’s homes. Now, he has nowhere left to put them but garages and cowsheds. (more…)

Assad’s Downfall and the Regional Balance of Power

The remaining advocates of Bashar Assad are working overtime to portray a vision of a completely chaotic Middle East if and when the Alawite regime finally collapses.

effort to rebrand ‘Arab Spring’ as ‘Islamic Awakening’ backfires in Iran

It was meant to be a crowning moment in which Iran put its own Islamic stamp on the Arab Spring. More than a thousand young activists were flown here earlier this week (at government expense) for a conference on “the Islamic Awakening,” Tehran’s effort to re-brand the popular Arab uprisings of the past year. (more…)

Israel preparing for fall of Syria’s Assad

Israel is making preparations for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a flood of refugees from his minority Alawite sect into the Golan Heights, Israel’s military chief told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

“Assad cannot continue to hold onto power,” a committee spokesman quoted Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz as saying. (more…)