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Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor told the United Nations Monday that Syrian children are dying from famine but that “they are not the tragic fatalities of a famine. They are not the accidental casualties of war. They are the deliberate targets of a brutal regime that will commit any crime and cross any line to cling to power.” “They look out at the camera with pleading eyes – desperate for help,” he said in a discussion on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s continuing brutal suppression of the 11-month-old rebellion. “Today I recall the images of infants and young children from the Baba...

Even as visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping got the red-carpet treatment from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the White House on Tuesday accused China and Russia of effectively giving Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a "license to kill" the critics of his regime by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at ending bloodshed in Syria. Obama press secretary Jay Carney did not use the incendiary phrase, which Norah O'Donnell of CBS News put in the mouth of an anonymous administration official, in a TV report Monday and in a question to Carney at his daily...

After a relatively quiet weekend that saw nearly 50 people killed, heavy shelling resumed this morning in the neighborhood of Bab Amr in the city of Homs, Syria. Tuesday marks the tenth day of the Syrian Army's assault on Homs, and activists tell ABC News that over 500 people have been killed since February 4th. The livestream over Bab Amr shows a constant stream of shelling and gunfire, and there are unconfirmed reports that several people have died in the early attacks. Video posted on YouTube shows flames shooting into the air after an apparent explosion.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a clear and unified message coming out of their meeting in Washington, D.C. Monday: They are looking for a political solution in Syria and won't consider putting international troops there unless the Syrian regime agrees. Clinton and Davotoglu spent the afternoon preparing for the upcoming inaugural meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group this weekend in Tunisia. Following the meeting, they both urged the international community to support the Arab League's recommendations for Syria following their Sunday meeting in Cairo, which included a request for a U.N.-Arab peacekeeping...

BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida’s chief has called on Muslims from other countries to support rebels in Syria seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, saying they cannot depend on the West for help. Ayman al-Zawahri, in a videotaped statement released late Saturday, asked Muslims in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to join the uprising against Assad’s “pernicious, cancerous regime.” All four states border Syria. 0 Comments Weigh In Corrections? A senior Iraqi security official also told the Associated Press on Saturday that intelligence over the last four months has revealed a flow of al-Qaida-linked fighters from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul...

As Syria's rebellious cities are bombarded and the regime's tank crews prepare to move, only a rag-tag and poorly armed but determined army stands in their way. The last straw for Captain Abu Mahmoud came when 13 of his fellow officers were lined up and shot by a Syrian firing squad. They had been identified as potential deserters - all officers have their own team of watchers from military intelligence to monitor their behaviour - and were executed just in case, he said. He was headed at the time with his Third Division for Idlib in the north, scene already...

Twin explosions rocked security installations in the Syria city of Aleppo, Syrian TV reported on Friday, with reports of at least 25 dead on the scene, with 175 wounded. The so-called "terrorist explosions" shook Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, only a day after the city's first wave of anti-government demonstrations was reported.

Syria's military has begun stockpiling chemical weapons and equipping its soldiers with gas masks near the city of Homs, opposition sources reported on Thursday. Opposition activists said they had received reports that the Syrian army had transferred a significant quantity of grenades and mortars containing chemical agents to a school building in Homs.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs with rocket and mortar fire on Thursday, activists said, as divided world powers struggled to find a way to end the violence. The United Nations chief condemned the ferocity of the government assault on Homs, heart of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out nearly a year ago and is getting bloodier by the day.

Iran and Syria have maintained close ties since the early years of the Islamic Republic and Syria now serves as Iran’s key Arab ally and partner in the region. The advent of the Iran-Iraq War provided Syria with an opportunity to gain another regional ally against Saddam Hussein. In contrast with nearly all other Arab countries, Syria supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. In 1982 the two states brokered a deal allowing Syria to receive shipments of subsidized Iranian oil, and in return, Syria shut down Iraq’s oil pipeline through its territory. Syrian support for Iran wavered in 1986 when...

Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said. The bombardment came a day after the United States promised harsher sanctions against Damascus in response to Russian and Chinese vetoes of a draft U.N. resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Assad to step aside.

In a barrage of shelling, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds early Saturday in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said.

Political analysts hurl insults - and punches - in a dispute over the credibility of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Video

The fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad is sealed, according to Abdullah Gül, the president of Turkey, which until recent months had forged a warm relationship with Syria and Iran. “Some think that we want war in Syria. Turkey has done everything in its power for a transformation under the leadership of the president. We did everything except beg for it,” he told reporters in remarks published by Turkish newspapers Tuesday. “We worked so hard [to convince Assad]. We told him that one day you will regret it, one day you will say, ‘I did this and that,' but it...

Asma Assad, her children, Bashar Assad's mother and his cousin were all in a convoy on the way to the airport when rebel forces under the command of a former senior officer in the Syrian army, blocked the their path. After heavy exchanges of fire, the presidential security forces managed to get the convoy back to the presidential palace. General Mahmoud Halouf, former head of the Palestine branch of Syrian intelligence, along with 300 former soldiers who deserted with him, said that when they saw the convoy, they believed it was an attempt to smuggle senior officials out of the...

Sources within the Syrian opposition said that the Free Syrian Army forces managed to prevent the escape of the first lady of Syria and additional relatives through Damascus airport. ... The sources claimed that Asma Assad, her children, Bashar Assad's mother and his cousin were all in a convoy on the way to the airport when rebel forces under the command of a former senior officer in the Syrian army blocked their path.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Street battles raged on the doorstep of the Syrian capital on Monday, as President Bashar al-Assad's troops sought to consolidate their grip on suburbs rebel fighters had taken only a few miles from the centre of Assad's power. Activists and residents said Syrian troops now had control of Hamouriyeh, one of a cluster of districts where they have used armored vehicles and artillery to beat back rebels who came as close as eight km (five miles) to Damascus. An activist said the Free Syrian Army - a force of military defectors with links to Syria's divided political...

Events in Syria seem to have reached a stalemate. On the one hand, the regime is failing to quell the civilian rebellion against it, while on the other hand, the opposition to Bashar Assad cannot yet be seen as an alternative to the regime. Indeed, the apparent Free Syrian Army (FSA) had signaled cracks in the coalition of forces rallied around Bashar Assad, certainly in his most powerful bastion. However, it looks as if the FSA has lost its momentum and has not been successful in rallying entire units of the Syrian army to its cause. Up until now, army...

The wave of protest in Syria has put to the test the strategic alliance between Iran (and Hizbullah) and Bashar Assad's regime. Syria is the main state component of the "resistance camp" and serves as a logistical hinterland for Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran sees its unequivocal backing for Syria as a demonstration of its ability to stay loyal to its allies despite the regional turmoil. Iran believes that ultimately the "Islamic mantle" will supplant the region's pro-Western regimes as part of the Islamic awakening. This would offset the possible loss of Syria and reconsolidate the resistance camp...

Army defectors overran a protest hub near Damascus before pulling back, activists said on Sunday, ahead of an Arab League meeting to decide the future of its heavily criticised observer mission to Syria. Fierce clashes erupted late Saturday in Douma, just northeast of the capital, after security forces shot dead four civilians at a funeral in the town, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Groups of deserters took control of all districts in the town of Douma, near Damascus, after fierce fighting on Saturday with Syrian security forces," the Observatory's chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Syria's religious and ethnic minorities need to work together with liberal Sunni Muslims to counter the influence of Islamists in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, a prominent Sunni Muslim opposition figure said. Kamal al-Labwani said Islam was being used to galvanize street protests against Assad and the population had grown more devout, but most Syrians still want Islam to "remain a religion, not a political party."

A recent visit by the commander of Iran's elite Quds force to Damascus is the strongest sign yet that Iran is supplying weapons to aid Bashar Assad's crackdown on the Syrian people, a senior Obama administration official said Tuesday. While the U.S. has long believed Iran is helping drive the deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria, the official says the visit by Quds Force Commander Ghassem Soleimani provides a concrete example of direct high-level cooperation between Iran and Syria. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to speak publicly. The administration's assertion comes amid...

Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, made a dash for Syria after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave their waters, Turkish officials said Thursday.

Turkey says a Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, has docked at a Syrian on port on Thursday after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave. The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus, violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent. Cyriot officials on Wednesday allowed the ship to leave after it changed its destination to Turkey.

Turkish customs officials intercepted four trucks on Tuesday suspected of carrying military equipment from Iran to Syria, a Turkish provincial governor. The governor of Kilis province said the trucks were confiscated at the Oncupinar border crossing into Syria after police received information about their cargo, according to Dogan news agency. "The four trucks were confiscated by customs. They are alleged to be carrying military equipment," Governor Yusuf Odabas said. He said experts were being sent from Ankara to examine the cargo. Turkey imposed economic sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government in November, having earlier implemented an arms embargo in protest...

-excerpt - Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying that the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia's state arms trader Rosoboronexport.

Syrian President Bashar Assad dug himself deeper in a hole Tuesday, stating in a “major” speech that the “people” are behind him and blaming a “foreign conspiracy” for the slaughter of protesters. He told his country that “nobody is deceived anymore” by the alleged conspiracy, which he vowed will fail. Echoing the cries of Hosni Mubarak before he was ousted and of Muammar Qaddafi before he was killed, Assad added, "When I leave this post, it will be also based upon the people's wishes.” Perhaps looking ahead at sharing the fate of Mubarak, who is being tried for murdering more...

BEIRUT (AP) — The Arab League demanded Sunday that the Syrian government immediately stop all violence and allow more monitors in, as activists reported at least 10 more civilians, including two teenagers, were killed by regime forces.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has withdrawn tanks and heavy weapons from cities around the nation -- but his forces continue to kill unarmed protesters, the Arab League reports. Some 3,500 political prisoners were allegedly freed by the Assad regime on Monday, but government forces continued to shoot to kill, even with Arab League monitors in the country, Arab League secretary-general Nabil Elaraby said Monday. At least eight more protesters were killed, despite the presence of the monitors in the country. A child was shot dead Sunday, becoming the Syrian Revolution's first victim of 2012. "Yes, there is still shooting and...

Residents in the Syrian city of Homs called for western intervention on Saturday after activists said the area has come under renewed attack from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Al Jazeera cited residents who told the network on Saturday that army tanks were shelling the city. Activists in the Bab Amr district said they had been under siege for the last 48 hours. One resident told the network, “There is heavy bombardments going on since early morning and there is non-stop firing so far. So many people are been killed, we have counted so far 16 people have been...

Is Iran conspiring to run the Middle East?What we have in the world today is a perfect storm and it is coming straight for us. We have a president who is either inept or evil and refuses to lead and an entire Middle East region that is crumbling to what could be described as the most evil regime in the world. Within days of the United States pulling out of Iraq the seemingly impossible has occurred. The region is falling farther into chaos. Iran has made several power plays in the last few days and if we don’t react soon,...

Two car bomb attacks on Syrian security sites in Damascus earlier Friday killed 30 people and wounded 55 others, most of them civilian, the Lebanese news channel Al Manar said. The Hezbollah-owned TV station cited information from its own correspondents on the ground Earlier Friday, Syria state television reported that two booby-trapped cars blew up at Syrian security sites in Damascus, saying that "terrorist attacks left a number of martyrs, both civilian and military. Most of the victims were civilian," Syrian TV said in a news flash.

DAMASCUS,Syria - The Syrian navy and air forces carried out Tuesday two separate maneuvers with live ammunition under war-like circumstances to test their fighting capabilities, state-run SANA news agency reported. SANA said the air force's maneuver included military airdrops, use of all kinds of weapons, and targeting with high accuracy, and it aimed to test the air defense system's capability to counter any possible aggression on the country. SANA also quoted Syrian army's chief of staff, Jasim Furaig, as saying that the forces exhibited "good preparation and their outstanding performance" in the war games, stressing on the forces ' readiness...

-excerpt- The troops surrounded the valley and unleashed a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire in an hours-long assault, according to two human rights groups and a witness, killing more than 100 people and leaving no survivors in one of the bloodiest days of a crackdown by President Bashar Assad against a nine-month popular uprising.

Five Iranian technicians working in Syria have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the city of Homs, Iran's English-language Press TV reported on Wednesday. It did not give a source for the information nor say when the kidnapping took place. "Eight technicians, including five Iranians, have been reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the restive Syrian city of Homs," Press TV reported.

The White House is renewing its call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, saying his regime does not deserve to rule. The White House said Wednesday in a statement that Assad's regime has no credibility and has "flagrantly violated" its commitment to end violence. The statement said the Obama administration is deeply disturbed by continued reports of government-backed violence against the Syrian people. Witnesses said more than 200 people have been in killed in two days of violence this week. The violence came after Assad agreed to allow foreign monitors under an Arab League plan aimed at stopping...

Assad losing control as 10,000 soldiers desert Syrian military Scores killed in Tuesday's clashes, including 14 troops ambushed by opposition. By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Tags: Bashar Assad Syria Arab Spring More than 10,000 soldiers have deserted the Syrian army, sources say, with as many as half the conscripts not reporting in the last three call-ups. According to Western intelligence agencies, even though the top brass is still loyal to President Bashar Assad, lower-level officers are deserting in large numbers, and in some cases, whole units have deserted en masse. The army is considered the main factor safeguarding Assad's...

Rights chief calls situation "intolerable" but Syrian ambassador to UN says country is victim of "huge conspiracy". More than 5,000 people are now believed to have been killed in the Syrian government's crackdown on protests, the United Nations human rights chief has told the UN Security Council. The UN's Navi Pillay said on Monday there were reports of increased attacks by opposition groups on President Bashar al-Assad's security forces but highlighted "alarming" events in the besieged protest city of Homs, according to diplomats in the closed meeting. More than 14,000 people are estimated to have been detained and at least...

ANKARA - Turkey cannot stand by and watch if Syria's crackdown on a popular uprising puts security in the region at risk, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday. While Ankara has no desire to interfere in Syria's internal affairs, it has a duty to tell Damascus "Enough!" if it puts Turkey's security at risk by fighting its own people and forcing people to flee the country, he said. Turkey, which has the second-largest army in NATO, said last month it did not want any military intervention in Syria but that it was ready for "any scenario" including setting up...

Taking a hard line on a U.S. foe in the Middle East, Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich indicated Wednesday that he would unilaterally "replace" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because he is running a "bad dictatorship." The former House speaker was asked on a morning radio show in Chicago to offer a "30-second" answer to what he would do about Syria, where anti-government protests have led to a violent crackdown. Gingrich said, "I can give you a three-second answer. Replace Assad. I mean Assad is our enemy. He is an ally of Iran. It is a bad dictatorship. It is to...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defiantly denied any suggestion that he has ordered a bloody crackdown against protesters who are demanding that he resign, and claims instead that most of the people who died in the unrest were his supporters and troops. Assad, whose regime has been condemned by the West, the Arab League and former allies, dismissed suggestions that he step down and scoffed at sanctions being imposed on Syria.

A surge in violence in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed up to 50 people in the past 24 hours, leaving dozens of bodies in the streets, activists said Tuesday

The Syrian Arab News Agency reported Sunday that the Syrian army has staged a live-fire drill in the eastern part of the country "under war-like circumstances with the aim of testing the missile weaponry in confronting any attack." According to the report, during the drill the army fired at least one Scud-B missile, which has a range of about 300 kilometers (roughly 190 miles), in the direction of the border with Iraq. It was further reported that 300 and 600-millimeter surface-to-surface missiles were also test fired. The missiles have a range of 150 (93 miles) and 200 kilometers (124 miles),...

Damascus, 1 Dec. (AKI) - Dozens of officials from North Korea and Iran have conducted meetings with representatives of the Syrian government in Damascus to help president Bashar al-Assad obtain weapons following the implementation of sanctions by members of the Arab League and other countries. The meetings have been taking place in recent days, and were attended by experts in the production of rockets, according to Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah, citing unnamed intelligence sources. "The Syrian regime is afraid of losing power so is asking help from these two allies to put in place whatever means are necessary, even if it...

A report Thursday said that Russia has supplied Syria with advanced S-300 missiles, and has sent advisers to help Syria run the system. Russian warships that have reached waters off Syria in recent days were carrying, among other things, Russian technical advisors who will help the Syrians set up an array of S-300 missiles Damascus has received in recent weeks, a report in the London-based Arabic language Al Quds-Al Arabi said Thursday. Citing sources in Syria and Russia, the paper said that Moscow sees a Western attack on Syria as a "red line" that it will not tolerate.

Assad has also stated that should a US strike take place against Syria, “All these events(striking Tel Aviv, calling on Hezbollah to strike northern Israel) will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. and European interests will be targeted simultaneously.”

Hizballah has for some time been a parasitic pseudo-state within Lebanon, complete with its own armed forces, and has slowly been working to devour its host. An attempt to take Beirut would be a rather logical progression of events, unfortunately. Would Hizballah face any resistance from the Lebanese armed forces? "If Assad falls, Hezbollah will take Beirut," from the Jerusalem Post, November 22: Hezbollah may launch a military offensive to take over the Lebanese capital of Beirut if Syrian President Bashar Assad is forced out of power, Dubai-based Arabic-language news website Al Arabiya reported Tuesday according to a "source close...

Damascus: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad defiantly vowed to fight and die if needed as an Arab League deadline for his government to stop its lethal crackdown on protesters expired with 20 more people killed. Upping the pressure on Syria, the Arab League on Sunday announced it had rejected amendments proposed by Damascus to its proposal to send a 500-strong delegation to monitor the violence in Syria. (con't at link above) And Turkish President Abdullah Gul said there was “no place for authoritarian regimes” in the Mediterranean region. Among the dead on the weekend were four intelligence agents killed as...

-excerpt- ...Bashar Assad’s uncle, a former Syrian vice president and military strongman who many say has blood on his own hands....claimed Tuesday that the Syrian people need a strong, stable hand to end the crisis — and he’s just the man

Fourteen civilians were killed in a crackdown on dissent against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday, activists said, despite a deadline by the Arab League for Damascus to take steps to end the bloodshed. The Arab League, a powerful political group of Arab states, set the Saturday deadline for Syria to comply with a peace plan, entailing a military pullout from around restive areas, and threatened sanctions if Assad failed to halt the violence. But on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 civilians were killed in security force raids while two army defectors died when...