Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad denied Amnesty reports on mass killing in a Syrian prison and said President Donald Trump’s ban on Syrians targeted terrorists, not the Syrian people. Below is the full interview he gave to French TF1 TV and EUROPE 1 Radio as appeared in SANA, the Syrian news agency
Saudi-based opposition newspaper reports on accidental killing of three Turkish soldiers in Russian operation near Syria’s northern border, as Putin attributes blunder to ineffectual military partnership between the two countries
Lebanese website Al-Modon comments on the fracturing of opposition forces in Syria’s northern provinces as internal fighting forces factions to side with one of the two main rebel groups, Ahrar al-Sham or Al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham
Loyalist Al-Watan newspaper writes that Erdogan’s mounting domestic and international problems will force the Turkish president to accept that the only way to restore his regional standing will be through rapprochement with Assad
Writing for All4Syria, Walid Bunni urges opposition factions attending the upcoming talks in Astana to resist foreign pressure for short-term gains
Russia is not serious in its wish to impose a ceasefire, Walid al-Bunni argues
Russia’s acknowledgment of the armed opposition is one of the requirements of profiting politically from the victory in Aleppo. This means that transforming the military victory into a political settlement requires recognizing the enemy before sitting with him and agreeing to a solution to the conflict.
Russian publication mocks Syrian president after failing to comply with orders from Moscow
The unpredictability of Russia’s Syria policy troubles both its allies and enemies who worry the Kremlin may be selling empty promises ahead of upcoming peace talks in Geneva
The gamble made by Damascus and its allies is that the US will be in a hurry to make any achievement in the Syrian crisis, and will accept the idea of Assad’s nomination in the coming elections due to domestic reasons related to their own upcoming election season
What does Donald Trump have to do with Iran and Russia’s insistence that rebel fighters be evacuated to Idleb exclusively, even though areas of the Damascus countryside under opposition control are much closer? Walid Bunni explains
De Mistura denied his intention to resign from his post, expecting Obama and Putin will continue their efforts to reduce the level of violence and to increase humanitarian aid till President-elect Donald Trump takes office early next year
Trump symbolically and practically has given a green light to finish off Aleppo city, and he has become, along with Obama, partners with Putin in the most horrific stage the city has endured in its long history, writes Abdel Wahab Bedarkhan
The push by Assad and his allies to achieve decisive victories before the end of Obama’s term, and the beginning of an unpredictable Trump presidency, could explain the brutality which they are employing against Aleppo, the Damascus countryside, and the eastern and western Ghoutas
Confusion heads political expectations worldwide, with cautious optimism and wishful thinking being shared between the current US administration, Russia, Iran and Assad, as concrete details around what a Trump presidency would look like remain unclear
Syrian President Bashar al Assad said on Tuesday Damascus would have to “wait and see” if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would change Washington’s policy on Syria but that he was ready to cooperate with him in fighting militants. Following is the full text, as published in SANA
US president-elect and Russian president will attempt to normalize relations, Kremlin says, with the Syrian crisis and the fight against global terror at the top of the agenda
Trump will not support the armed opposition and will not support intervention in Syria, loyalists say, but he will strongly support fighting terrorists
Russian president says the only way to end the crisis, return the displaced and rebuild the economy is through political dialogue
Top general confirms Russian and Syrian forces have offered to open corridors out of the besieged city for civilians and militants to leave
