U.N. Warns Syria Heading Towards Destruction

Following its failed efforts to contain the 19-month-old insurrection in battle-torn Syria, the United Nations has issued a new warning: the besieged country is heading towards "destruction".

Bombing Leaves Lebanon Shaken

The assassination of Lebanon’s top security official on Friday not only ravaged a quiet Beirut neighbourhood but also shattered the precarious sense of security many Lebanese have been desperately clinging to in recent months.

U.N. Envoy Warns of Syria Crisis Spillover

Syria's 19-month conflict can set the entire region ablaze, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has told reporters in Lebanon.

Syria Stands Between Egypt and Iran

The election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi to the presidency this summer was followed by a flurry of conjecture that the restoration of Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic relations – frozen since 1979 – was in the offing. Yet despite some initial indications to this effect, local analysts now say such speculation appears to have been premature.

The Key to Damascus Could Lie at the Borders

A group of six men listen as voices crackle through a walkie-talkie. They are sitting in a farmhouse in the north of Lebanon less than a kilometre from the Syrian border. The sound of gunfire and shelling in the distance sporadically punctuates the atmosphere. One of the group returns to the room after taking a telephone call. “Good news from the battle,” he exclaims with a smile.

New Poll Finds Shifts in U.S. Public Opinion Towards Middle East

The attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt last month shocked and scared Americans, but the majority of Americans nevertheless recognise that the violence was the work of extremist minorities and not the majority of the population, according to a new poll.

U.S.: Romney Assails Obama’s “Passivity” in Foreign Policy, Middle East

In what was billed as a major foreign policy address, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday assailed Barack Obama for “passivity” in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, arguing that it was “time to change course” in the Middle East, in particular.

Besieged Homs Areas Endure Heavy Bombardment

Syria's military has intensified its shelling of rebel-held areas of the city Homs, activists say, amid reports of aerial and ground bombardment elsewhere in the country.

As Conflict Spreads, Syrian Opposition Prepares for the Future

As the uprising in Syria becomes violently entangled with its neighbours, the expatriate opposition leadership is already formulating plans for a political transition following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Deadly Explosions Hit Central Aleppo

Four blasts have struck a government-controlled district close to a military officers' club in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 100, opposition activists say.

Assad and Opposition Both Losing

Two floors have been ripped from the top of an apartment block in Aleppo in northern Syria. A lone man stands amidst the rubble four stories up after a missile from one of his own government’s fighter jets smashed into the building that morning. With his arms crossed, the solitary figure surveys the destruction around him.

Growing Public Discontent with Turkish Syria Policy

Public approval of the Turkish government’s foreign policy has reached its lowest point - a mere 18 percent - in the past decade, according to a poll released here this week that showed only 18 percent of respondents said they favoured Ankara’s handling of the escalating sectarian violence in neighbouring Syria.

Drawing an Uncertain Kurdish Map

Over a yellowish map, Qehreman Meri draws an oblong surface along the Turkish-Syrian border. "We want an autonomous region with clearly defined boundaries," says this spokesman from Yeketi (Unity), one of 15 Kurdish political parties in Syria.

Syrian Kurds Find the Language of Freedom

"I want to learn how to read and write in my own language," says Manal, a young Kurd from Syria. Neither she nor any of Manal’s 30 classmates have ever been so close to achieving their goal.

Libyan Weapons Arming Regional Conflicts

In the aftermath of Libya’s revolution, Libyan fighters and weapons are flooding areas of conflict in neighbouring countries, according to local fighters and officials in several countries.

Long Wait to Defect From Assad’s Forces

"Of course I want to defect but I cannot give up my salary. How could I possibly feed my 11 children?" The war is putting every Syrian on the brink, including this policeman on the side of President Bashar Al Assad.

OP-ED: Radical Salafis Overrunning the Syrian Revolution

The recent visit by Abd al-Halim Murad, head of the Bahraini Salafi al-Asalah movement, to Syria to meet with Syrian rebels is an attempt by him and other Gulf Salafis to hijack the Syrian revolution.

Syrian Crisis Brings a Blessing for Kurds

The smuggler wants 200 dollars but Jewan negotiates him down to 100. That’s still a lot for this 26-year-old Syrian Kurd, but he can hardly wait to cross the border to Syria from Iraq. It’s been three years since he last saw his family.

Washington’s War Drums Drown out Opportunities for Peace in Syria

As violence in Syria spikes after a short lull, the prospect of international military intervention appears to be growing by the day. Earlier this week, almost exactly one year after President Barack Obama first called on Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad to step down, Obama warned of "enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons".

Q&A: U.S. Should Encourage NATO-Led Assistance to Syrian Opposition

Intervention in Syria was "only a matter of time", wrote Emile Nakhleh in February in the Financial Times. Seven months later, the fighting and divisions within Syria continue to worsen. Now, a diplomatic solution is no longer possible, Nakhleh, a retired CIA analyst, believes.

Rebels Claim Responsibility for Syria Blast

The main Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibilty for a series of explosions in central Damascus near the hotel used by the U.N. observer mission in Syria.