May 25, 2013
9:11 am

An illustrative photo of an oil field under control of Kurdish militias near the town of Deriq, in a Kurdish area of Syria, near the border with Iraq. (photo credit: AP/Manu Brabo)

Assad’s not-so-secret weapon: loyal Syrian businessmen

From the web WSJ: A critical reason for the regime’s resilience is a close circle of financiers who help Damascus with oil contracts and supply transport

By Sam Dagher

May 19, 2013
2:28 pm

Shelling in Syria kills at least 16, activists say

Rebel-held Qusair, near the Lebanon border, is the target of a new government offensive

By Jamal Halaby

May 14, 2013
11:13 pm

A Lebanese army soldier passes in front of Syrian flag, in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)

Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears

Specter of Syrian civil war spilling into Lebanon rises as wave of violence against Assad’s sect crashes over northern town

By Bassem Mroue

May 4, 2013
11:08 am

Syrian army soldiers, seen in the background, standing in front of dead bodies at Bayda village, in the mountains outside the coastal city of Banias, Syria, in May (photo credit: AP/The Syrian Revolution against Bashar Assad)

Hundreds flee Syrian city after reported massacre

Carnage, raids by Assad troops in Sunni neighborhood in Banias prompt families to leave Alawite area

May 4, 2013
9:20 am

A Syrian man (center), identifies dead bodies who were killed, according to activists, by Syrian forces loyal to Bashar Assad, in Bayda, outside the coastal city of Banias, Syria, on May 2, 2013. (photo credit: AP/The Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Assad)

‘Images of Sabra and Shatila in Syria’

From the web Lebanon’s Daily Star says scene in Sunni town where at least 50 were killed by regime troops reminiscent of famous 1982 Lebanon massacre

May 3, 2013
6:24 pm

Syrian opposition: Gov’t troops killed 50 villagers

Forces loyal to Assad regime accused of committing ‘large-scale massacre’ in Sunni town near Mediterranean coast

May 3, 2013
12:42 am

Activists report massacre in Syrian village

As many as 100 people said killed by army, pro-Assad gunmen near Mediterranean coast

By RYAN LUCAS

April 23, 2013
4:07 pm

Syrian rockets hit Lebanon as tensions ramp up

Latest volley slams into construction site hours after leading Lebanese Sunni clerics call for jihad in Syria

April 23, 2013
6:55 am

Damascus, Syria, March 22, 2012 (photo credit:AP/Muzaffar Salman)

Assad’s forces focusing on Damascus, coastal cities

With money and equipment from the West reaching rebels, regime fortifies strategic locations

By Bryan Schwartzman

April 19, 2013
10:01 pm

Anti Syrian regime protesters chanting slogans and waving the Syrian revolutionary flag during a demonstration, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 19, 2013.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

Fierce battles in Syria; US to raise aid to rebels

18 people killed Friday near the Lebanese border; gunmen shot a government official Thursday in Damascus

March 31, 2013
3:55 pm

Devices that appear to be like rocks found in Syria's coastal region, northwest of Damascus. (photo credit: AP/SANA)

‘Israel tracked Russian navy in Syria’

Israeli naval commandos planted spy camera near Tartus to monitor Russian naval movements, UK paper says

By Times of Israel staff and AP

March 24, 2013
3:16 pm

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announces his resignation at the government palace, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 22, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Hussein Malla)

With Lebanese PM’s resignation, a blow to Sunnis

Syrian Alawite leaders meet in Cairo to discuss post-Assad Syria

By Elhanan Miller

March 24, 2013
1:52 am

Fierce clashes in Tripoli as Lebanon teeters

Army entering town after heavy battles between pro- and anti-Assad fighters, day after prime minister brings down government

By Joshua Davidovich and AP

March 23, 2013
9:31 am

Syrian citizens stand on the rubble of houses that were destroyed by government airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria, earlier this month (photo credit: AP/Aleppo Media Center)

Fearing stark future, Syrian Alawites meet in Cairo

From the web Reuters: Summit is first meeting of opposition figures comprised of Assad’s minority Shiite sect

March 8, 2013
12:17 am

In this Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 photo, Syrian citizens walk in front of a church that was shelled by mortars, at the Christian village of Judeida, in Idlib province, Syria (photo credit: AP/Hussein Malla)

Civil war leaves Syrian minorities with no clear options

As Assad’s regime battles a rebellion, the old order that governed relations between the country’s myriad sects and ethnicities is fraying

By Steve Negus

Topic: Alawites