Serving as a battleground for countless foreign and ideological belligerents, the greatest danger facing Syria is the fragmentation and polarization of its society, Walid al-Bunni writes
China’s envoy to Syria urges parties to continue efforts to secure a political settlement through negotiations, adding that recent chemical attacks in Idleb’s countryside should be investigated through an independent commission, state news agency reports
Government news outlet quotes minister during meeting with Western journalists as saying terrorism and major media outlets are attempting to reshape the discourse of events in Syria, specifically in regards to the recent U.S. strike on the Khan Sheikhoun air base earlier this month
Al-Hayat columnist Ibrahim Hamidi highlights four observations in the aftermath of the first American strike on Syrian army positions, explaining that the coming days will show which of two tracks will be taken by Russian and the U.S. in response — military escalation between the two superpowers, or a renewed interest in a military-political agreement
The four military officials will be banned from traveling to the EU and unable to access any assets in the bloc or its banks
Assad tells a visiting Russian-European delegation that the government will pursue two tracks to resolve the conflict in Syria, counterterrorism and the political process, stressing the importance of striking national reconciliation deals in doing so
Assad says U.S. forces in Syria are ‘invaders’ and he has yet to see ‘anything concrete’ emerge from President Donald Trump’s vow to prioritize the fight against ISIS. Below is the full interview as published by SANA.
De Mistura’s incompetence led to the failure of the talks at Geneva as every platform vied for divergent interests, giving hope that his exclusion as a special envoy at Astana will bring about good results
The recent repositioning of Paris vis-à-vis the Syrian crisis toward viewing the regime as a solution to an end of terrorism comes as right-wing movements across the globe dominate the political stage
Opposition website Enab Baladi reports on the eleventh-hour struggle between political and armed opposition groups to form a delegation for next week’s negotiations in Geneva with the Assad regime
President Assad told Belgian media that statements made by Trump are promising regarding the priority of fighting terrorists, and mainly ISIS. Below is the full text as appeared on SANA:
State-run media reports on new aid agreements between Damascus and Beijing with a combined worth of 16 million US dollars
Ain al-Medina explains the reason Moscow sent non-Russian special forces to a foreign country as part of a special mission for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union
Government news agency SANA publishes transcript of Syrian president’s interview with Japanese journalist regarding the state of the current ceasefire, this week’s peace talks in Kazakhstan, and what is likely to come from a Trump presidency
President Bashar al-Assad has accused the US of sponsoring terrorist groups in Syria by labeling them ‘moderate opposition’. In an interview with the Russian TV channels, Russia 24 and NTV, the Syrian president said the United States tried to promote the idea of so-called moderate opposition in Syria.
Following is the full text of the interview:
Syrian foreign minister underlines need for concerted international efforts to fight terrorism during meeting with Chinese delegation in the Syrian capital
Syria’s envoy to U.N. urges countries to support the Syrian government in its fight against terrorism if they are serious about the interests of the Syrian people
Despite the president-elect’s promises to withdraw American power from the region and revert to a more isolationist strategy, history shows us that major changes in US foreign policy rarely occur with the rotation of presidential administrations, writes Eyyad al-Jaafari
“It’s not pressure that created the problem — it’s the intellectual cultivation and the mentors who were raised by the teachers of Al-Qaeda and the Wahhabi ideology… This is the fruits of decades of sectarian broadcasts and miseducation.”
Following is the full text of the interview, as appeared on SANA, the official news agency
