Free Republic

Everyone watching the Presidential race is talking about the "debate" at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. But no one and neither of the candidates said what should have been said. And that's that John McCain had no business being at a church of a man who legitimizes and panders to the same country he says he will not: Syria and its leader, Bashar Assad. Rick Warren not only went to Syria, he praised it as a moderate country and expressed his admiration of it. Maybe next he'll do the same for Myanmar and Sudan.

The General who knew too little or too much? By George Eid August 07, 2008 General Mohammed Suleiman, an officer of the Syrian Arab Army was found dead in Tartus. He was assassinated in Syria only six months after the assassination of Imad Moghniya. Pro-Syrians called it an accident while some others considered it an assassination. What is sure is that he was shot? Shot to shut up or shot to be shot? That is a question that has been mingling in the headlines of the major newspapers for the last couple of days. “Mohammed Suleiman, an officer of the...

THE slaying of a mysterious Syrian general, who was shot dead as he sat on the foredeck of a yacht, has sharply raised tensions in Damascus and led to speculation that cracks are appearing in President Bashar al-Assad's iron-fisted rule. Brigadier General Mohammed Suleiman was little known in Western or Israeli intelligence circles until he was killed by a sniper in a Syrian port on Saturday. He was, however, a critical go-to man for Mr Assad and a loyalist who personally kept most of the regime's secrets and knew the origins of the rest. The general is understood to have...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the collapse of Israel and its government was no longer an unachievable aim. "Today's situation is that neither the return of Palestinians nor formation of a government and even the collapse of the Zionist regime is unachievable," Ahmadinejad said, according to Fars news agency. "The government has lost the philosophy of its existence and is no longer capable of implementing the policies of the United States and Europe in the region," he told visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While referring to Syria's indirect talks with Iran's arch-foe Israel, Ahmadinejad said "more joint...

France kicked off Bastille Day celebrations on Monday in a whirlwind of controversy as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad joined dozens of leaders to watch the Champs Elysees military parade. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was the guest of honour at this year's festivities and two units of UN blue helmets were to lead off the traditional march from the Arc de Triomphe down to Place de la Concorde. But President Nicolas Sarkozy's invitation to Assad has angered opposition politicians and some in the French military who served in a UN peace force in Lebanon, where Syria for years was...

Signs Pointing to Damascus' Break with Iran July 10, 2008 Middle East Times Sana Abdallah Speculation is growing that Syria is ready to distance itself from Iran and come to the Western fold if the United States and its allies ultimately reward Damascus with political, financial and military support. Officially, Damascus insists that its third-party negotiations with Israel, which are held through Turkish mediation and expected to soon be upgraded to face-to-face talks, are not taking place at the expense of its strong strategic relationship with Tehran. But leaked information says otherwise. The latest such leak came from Alon Liel,...

Is Syria's President Bashar Assad about to switch sides? The answer given by the entourage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is an empathic yes. And it has to be. After all, Sarkozy has invited the Syrian leader to sit next to him in the presidential niche during the July 14 military parade, the most important public holiday in France honouring the Great French Revolution. The invitation, a rare honour bestowed on few foreign leaders, is designed to transform Bashar from an international pariah into a valued partner not only for France but also for the European Union as a whole....

Syria is ready to break off its close links with Iran if America gives it financial and military backing, a former Israeli diplomat involved in unofficial peace talks has revealed to The Sunday Telegraph. According to the offical, who has been engaged in low-key "second track" discussions with Syrian representatives for many months, Syria's President Bashar Assad is increasingly open to a deal which would greatly weaken Iranian influence in the region. Alon Liel, a former director of Israel's foreign ministry, said the prospect of a peace agreement with Syria was growing, though it might require a new American president...

It's Time to Talk to Syria By JOHN KERRY and CHUCK HAGEL June 5, 2008; Page A19 After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, President George H.W. Bush did the improbable and convinced Syrian President Hafez Assad to join an American-led coalition against a fellow Baathist regime. Today, these leaders' sons have another chance for a diplomatic breakthrough that could redefine the strategic landscape in the Middle East. The recent announcement of peace negotiations between Israel and Syria through Turkey, and the agreement between the Lebanese factions in Qatar – both apparently without meaningful U.S. involvement – should serve as a...

DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - Israel must be prepared to return all Syrian lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as part of any peace deal between the two sides, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in remarks published on Tuesday. Briefing editors of United Arab Emirates newspapers during a visit to the Gulf Arab state, Assad also said U.S. sponsorship would be essential in the next stage of indirect talks launched last month under Turkish sponsorship. "At this stage we are not talking (with Israel) about anything else. What is on the agenda is the return of all land,"...

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday that Israel has expressed willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights, but direct talks would not begin before a new U.S. administration takes office.Israel declined to comment on the reported message, which Syria says was passed through Turkish mediators, but a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the country is "interested in peace with Syria." In an interview with Qatar's Al-Watan newspaper, Assad said the United States was the only party qualified to sponsor direct Syrian-Israeli negotiations. But he said those talks would not be possible right now because...

Former US president Jimmy Carter's talks with Hamas leaders constitute de facto recognition of the Islamic movement's legitimacy, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday. Carter met with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal over the weekend in Damascus, where he also held discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad. After meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday, the former US president was scheduled for a return trip to Israel on Monday. "Carter's visit to the region and his meetings with Hamas leaders are seen as recognition of the fact that Hamas is a major player that can't be...

Andy sent me this EXPOLSIVE story: The Speaker of the House, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, lead an entourage to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, with intentions of undermine our military operations inside Iraq, and members of that entourage met with members of the PKK (The Kurdistan Workers' Party), an affiliated terrorist organization, namely PJAK (An arm of the PKK who were tasked with handling the battle within Iraq.) leader Rahman Haji Ahmadi, and everybody in the know was too scared to go public with it. Remember that trip last spring by Pelosi (in the hijab no less)   and...

Andy sent me this EXPLOSIVE story: The Speaker of the House, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, lead an entourage to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, with intentions of undermine our military operations inside Iraq, and members of that entourage met with members of the PKK (The Kurdistan Workers' Party), an affiliated terrorist organization, namely PJAK (An arm of the PKK who were tasked with handling the battle within Iraq.) leader Rahman Haji Ahmadi, and everybody in the know was too scared to go public with it. Remember that trip last spring by Pelosi (in the hijab no less)...

Nothing special can be seen outside an anonymous modern office block in Leichendamm, a residential suburb of The Hague, though patrolling police vehicles and discreet security cameras are reminders that until recently it was the headquarters of the Dutch secret services. Behind its shuttered windows preparations are accelerating for a sensational trial that lies at the heart of tensions in the Middle East, and which seems certain to inflame them further: the steel and concrete building is to house the international tribunal that will try those accused of assassinating Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, three years ago in...

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's brother-in-law is suspected of engineering the assassination of Hizbullah's operations officer Imad Mughniyeh, according to a report Saturday in Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siasa ("Politics"). The news report appeared under the headline "Mughniyeh's elimination breaking the back of Damascus regime." The suspicions against the man, Colonel Wasef Shweikat, surfaced after his wife, Bashar Assad's sister Bushra, relocated to Paris with her children following the assassination. The move followed a split between Bashar and Bushra, which began when Mugniyeh informed Bashar of a plot against his regime. The paper said Shweikat met with a senior American intelligence officer in...

Beirut - A recent electronic mail leaked by Egypt unveils U.S. readiness to launch wide-scale military offensive against Syria if the Assad regime sticks to its policy towards Lebanon, Germany's DPA news agency reported. DPA on Friday quoted reliable sources as saying "the e-mail leaked a few days ago by Egypt to Syria reveals that the U.S. is ready to launch a wide-scale military offensive against Syria if (Damascus) holds onto its current position towards the Lebanese crisis." "This is the main reason behind (the deployment of) the (USS Cole) destroyer off the Lebanese and Syrian coasts," the sources added....

Syria may not only be to blame for the refusal of Palestinian factions to accept a cease-fire with Israel, but also for the terror attack which killed eight Yeshiva students in Jerusalem on Thursday, the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported on Saturday. According to the report, a senior Egyptian official told the paper that "Syria may be interested in focusing the international attention on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, instead of the situation in Lebanon." Asked whether Hizbullah was responsible for the Jerusalem shooting spree, the official responded that "there was not enough evidence, but that an investigation...

Syrian President Bashir Assad would like to restart peace talks with Israel immediately, according to Alon Liel, former Foreign Ministry director-general, who met with Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Mustafa, in Washington last week. Liel, who heads a movement advocating peace between Israel and Syria, said he briefed the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem of his talks. For two years, until the summer of 2006, the former Israeli official held talks with a Syrian-American businessman, Abe Suleiman, with ties in the top echelons of the Assad regime. The talks were held under Swiss auspices and with the knowledge of...

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak gave an indication that he may not attend next month's Arab Summit due to the interference of Syria into Lebanon's politics. In an interview broadcast initially in Bahrain, Mubarak said that the political crisis in Lebanon had its roots in Damascus, and that Bashar Assad needs to end his interference. Otherwise, the summit would be pointless: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Syria was part of the problem in Lebanon, calling on Damascus to help resolve the 15-month crisis before hosting an Arab summit next month. "The summit will be held in Syria and Syria is linked to...

DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar Assad boasts that Damascus is "the capital of resistance," a claim borne out by the presence here of Hamas leaders and a host of other radical Palestinian groups. But the killing of Imad Mughniyeh, one of America's most-wanted fugitives, in the Syrian capital shows how costly the regime's traditional hospitality toward Arab hard-liners can be. Mughniyeh's presence on Syrian soil was a deep embarrassment to Damascus, fueling U.S. accusations that the country allows extremists of many stripes — Palestinian militants, Hezbollah operatives and Iraqi insurgents — to operate freely. And the fact that someone was...

Senator Barack Obama went on the record about the never-ending political meltdown in Lebanon, and for a moment there I thought he might have it just right. “The ongoing political crisis is resulting in the destabilization of Lebanon,” he said, “which is an important country in the Middle East. The US cannot watch while Lebanon’s fresh democracy is about to collapse.” So far so good. “We must keep supporting the democratically-elected government of PM Fouad Siniora, strengthening the Lebanese army and insisting on the disarmament of Hezbollah before it leads Lebanon into another unnecessary war.” This is all excellent, so...

It appears that Israel's raid into Syrian territory in order to take out a nuclear facility, a chemical weapons depot, or a missile storage unit (depending on who you believe) also had one other side benefit; the raid exposed the brand new Russian air defense system bought by Syria and Iran to be useless against Israeli airplanes: Information coming out of Iran indicates that the military there is very dismayed at how ineffective new Russian anti-aircraft systems were during the Israeli September 6th air strike on a Syrian weapons development facility near the Iraqi border. Syria and Iran have both...

Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri revealed on Tuesday that he has evidence of Syrian assassination plots against himself and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Hariri made the claim in response to a question about alleged assassination plots against the leaders by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and head of intelligence Assef Shawqat. "We have intelligence about this and we are following it up," he told reporters. "The intelligence is correct and our security services are working on it. "There is cooperation between Lebanese security services and Arab security services to avoid such assassinations," he said, without specifying which countries were...

President Bashar Assad was personally involved in Damascus’ nuclear deal with Pyongyang. Documentary proofs of this, obtained from the presidential bureau and signed by Assad in person, are now in the hands of the US and Israeli intelligence services, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. In one, Assad hands down a specific order in his own handwriting that North Korea not be charged for Syrian goods, including an annual shipment of 100,000 tons of Durham wheat for five years worth a total of $120 million. This is the equivalent of the value of the reactor for producing plutonium up to its most...

Druze Victims of Syria's oppressionBackground on the 'Druze'http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Druze.htmSyria: The ruling Alawis (branch of Shia Islam) are all involved in the tyrannical administration, with nepotism and tribalism being overwhelming; yet, the Alawis represent about 16% of the country’s population. The oppressed groups include Aramaeans (belonging to various Christian denominations) 12%, Sunni Kurds 12%,, Sunni Circassians 3%, Druze Neo-Phoenicians 3%, Armenians 2%, Turkic peoples 2%, and Sunni Arabic speaking people 50%. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/who-does-not-want-turkey-in-iraq.html The Syrian regime does not permit its Druze citizens to visit their relatives and friendshttp://www.amislam.com/kuwait.htm SyriaComment.com: "The Jews of Syria," By Robert TuttleAs part of the minority Alawi sect, Hafez...

Syria's oppression of the KurdsThe Kurds nominate Syria for regime change.The most successful Communist leader in the Arab world, Khaled Baqdash, was a Syrian Kurd. As many reporters have been noting in the last few days, ... http://www.slate.com/id/2097493/ Mourners of Stampede Victims Riot in Syria - U.S. ...Mourners of Stampede Victims Riot in Syria, Hundreds at a funeral for people ... One of the teams involved, Al-Jihad, is a predominantly Syrian Kurdish ...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114130,00.html Kurdish Unrest Spreads in Syria; Up to 15 Dead, Scores Wounded ...Kurdish Unrest Spreads in Syria; Up to 15 Dead, Scores Wounded ... The first few victims...

Beirut - Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah has reported very disturbing information on the assassination of former MP Antoine Ghanem, including the preparation of the booby trapped car and the execution of the assassination The Al-Seyassah sources in Syria were able to link the assassination of Ghanem, his bodyguards and 3 others to the opening of the Arida and Dabussiya border crossings between Lebanon and Syria on September 17, 2 days before the assassination took place. The Al-Seyassah sources also revealed that the opening of the crossings was to facilitate the entry of the assassins with their equipment and the Mercedes car...

Exiled Syrian opposition leader Abdul Halim Khaddam says President Bashar Assad is "incapable of defending the country". He condemns Syria-Iran collaboration, and notes that last week's IAF infiltration was "one of many" which Syrian regime opts to keep silent about. Syrian President Bashar Assad "is a child, he's simply a joke," Abdul Halim Khaddam, the nation's former vice president, said Thursday. "Iran aspires to regional hegemony," he said. "Syria's ties to Iran will make it one of the battlefields in the struggle (between Iran and the West) - and for issues that have nothing to do with Syria's national interests....

US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said the country lambasted by the Bush administration deserves credit for taking in more than a million Iraqi refugees. Kucinich, a strong anti-war opponent who trails far in the US presidential polls, also said he won't visit Iraq on his trip to the region because he considers the US military deployment there illegal. "I feel the United States is engaging in an illegal occupation ... I don't want to bless that occupation with my presence," he said in an interview in Lebanon, after visiting...

Kucinich Visits Syria, Blasts U.S. US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said he won't visit Iraq on his trip to the region because he considers the US military deployment there illegal. "I feel the United States is engaging in an illegal occupation ... I don't want to bless that occupation with my presence," he said in an interview, although insiders say the real reason was because of the very real possibility U.S. troops would fire upon the leftist candidate. Kucinich met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during his visit...

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a meeting today with Dennis Kucinich, US Democratic Presidential candidate, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that Syria would be willing to participate in a multinational conference and peacekeeping force to help Iraq to manage its transition from occupied country to sovereign nation. Assad made these assurances and other observations in a two-hour meeting with Kucinich, who traveled to Syria to discuss a peace initiative which has arisen out of his anti-war work in the House of Representatives. President Assad agreed with Kucinich that various US demands for the privatization of Iraq's oil and...

UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report released Wednesday that he hopes to appoint judges to the international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by the end of the year. In the report to the Security Council, Ban said the tribunal would not be established until the U.N. had an estimated $35 million to fund its operations through the first year, as well as an additional $85 million in pledges to pay for the following two years. The Security Council approved a resolution in May to establish the tribunal...

Kucinich Meets with Syrian President Sunday, September 2, 2007 6:46 PM DAMASCUS, Syria -- U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate, met Sunday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as part of a Middle East peace initiative and fact-finding tour to several countries over the next five days. In the meeting with President Assad, Kucinich is expected to discuss approaches to dealing with the continued violence and instability in Iraq, as well as to discuss the Baker Hamilton report to the U.S. Congress which recommended direct engagement with Syria as part of a new Middle East foreign policy initiative....

Any roll call of the world's despots is depressingly long. But only a handful of leaders threaten the security of countries well beyond their borders. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, is the latest ruler to emerge from this pack. Rabidly anti-American, Chávez is intent on stirring up trouble -- and he's getting the help of some menacing thugs he counts as friends. Last September, Americans got a surreal introduction to Hugo Chávez. In an address before the UN General Assembly in New York, Venezuela's president launched into a tirade against the previous day's speaker, George W. Bush. "Yesterday," he intoned, "the...

TEL AVIV -- Syria continues to deploy missiles supplied by Russia and has established an anti-aircraft umbrella around Damascus and the Golan Heights. Israel's military has reported that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad deployed a range of surface-to-air missile assets in southern Syria. The military said the assets were purchased over the last year from Russia and financed by Iran. "The situation is tense," a senior Israeli officer said. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi met at the military's Northern Command headquarters near the Lebanese...

DAMASCUS, Syria - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out Thursday at unspecified enemies of the troubled Middle East, warning them to abandon their "hostile plans." During a one-day trip to Damascus, Ahmadinejad held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who said their discussions focused on Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, where both Tehran and Damascus wield influence. "The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they will be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples," the hardline Iranian leader said at a joint press conference with Assad. Both Iran and...

BEIRUT - An alleged leader of the Fatah al-Islam terrorist network has testified to interrogators that the group is linked to the head of Syria's intelligence apparatus Maj. Gen. Assef Shawkat, the brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad...

CAIRO, Egypt - Hamas rejected President Bush's proposal for a Mideast peace conference, denouncing it Monday as nothing but lies, while Syria said it fears the offer is "just words." Without cooperation from key Arab players, Bush's last major push for a Mideast breakthrough could falter. Washington's close Arab allies, including the region's traditional powerbrokers Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, welcomed Bush's proposal, but stressed the importance of making an Arab land-for-peace proposal first adopted in 2002 key to any talks. Israel's support was also qualified, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman saying it was too early to talk about...

A senior Israeli general on Monday confirmed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are training for a full-scale war with Syria, and that plans have been laid for a swift victory. But in the event of a conflagration, will Israel’s leadership allow those plans to be implemented?

Israelis learned Monday that a "top official" in the Ba'ath Party of Syrian President Bashar el-Assad had threatened Syrian fighters would commence "resistance" operations against Jewish communities on the Golan if Israel does not relinquish those heights by September. According to the Ba'ath official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld, said such a force - the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights - has now been trained and is ready to launch attacks against Jewish homes on the Golan. "Damascus was preparing for anticipated Israeli retaliation following these attacks and for a larger war with the...

Assad ready to cut off Teheran; exiles who say otherwise deceiving us Alon Liel Published: 06.18.07, 00:16 / Israel Opinion Israelis may not remember the name Ahmed Chalabi, but in Washington it will be remembered for many years to come. Chalabi is an Iraqi exile who presented himself to the Americans as the leader of the opposition to Saddam Hussein. The neo-conservatives around President Bush who wanted to topple Saddam warmly embraced Chalabi. They accepted his political interpretations of what was going on in Iraq without question, helped feed the American defense establishment with false information, and marketed to the...

Syrian President Bashar Assad was linked to Sunday's Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel, the Kuwaiti A-Siasa newspaper reported on Monday. In an "exclusive" article, the paper claimed that Assad's motive was his anger at the Arab League foreign ministers' position during last week's Cairo summit, particularly the stances of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who called for an end to Syrian involvement in Lebanon. According to the newspaper, Assad reacted harshly to the criticism, saying: "They will see how I will plough up Lebanon." A previously unknown Islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility on Monday for the Katyusha attack. The self-proclaimed...

A Qatari newspaper, Al Watan, reported Friday that Syria is making concrete preparations for war with Israel, saying that the Syrian government has removed the Government and State Archives from the Damascus area. According to the paper, this move indicates preparations for war. Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash confirmed on Al-Jazeera Arabic world news satellite TV last week that Syria is indeed engaged in active preparations for a war with Israel. The conflict, said the Syrian MP, is expected to break out during the summer months. Officials close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reported Sunday that their efforts to begin...

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered the Golan to Syria, in exchange for full peace, including cutting ties with Iran and terrorists. Israel's daily Yediot Acharonot reports Friday that PM Olmert has agreed to a deal with Syrian leader Bashar Assad, whereby Syria would receive control of the Golan Heights in exchange for revoking the Syrian-Iranian alliance and cutting all ties with terrorist organizations. Olmert reportedly informed Syria, via a third party, that he is aware that a peace agreement with Syria "means returning the Golan to Syrian sovereignty." He said he is willing to do so, but wishes...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a new seven-year mandate after winning more than 97 percent of the vote in a referendum, the interior minister announced on Tuesday. According to AFP, Bassam Abdel Majid told a press conference that Assad, 41, won a massive 97.62 percent of the vote in Sunday's referendum, with more than 11 million Syrians responding with a "yes". "No" voters numbered 19,653, while almost 253,000 votes were void, Abdel Majid conveyed. The voters were asked whether they "approve the candidacy of Dr Bashar al-Assad for the post of president of the republic." About 12 million Syrians...

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Syria was said to operate the Al Qaida network in Lebanon and directing the Islamic insurgency in that country. Syrian opposition sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has developed the Al Qaida network in an effort to undermine Lebanon. The sources said the Al Qaida-aligned Fatah Al Islam, which has been battling the Lebanese Army over the last week, has been led by a former Syrian Air Force officer and contains numerous former Syrian officers. "The head of Fatah Al Islam, Shakir Absi, was in the Syrian Air Force before released from a Syrian jail...

BEIRUT - Syria has built a fortified complex buried deep underground and cloaked in secrecy to manufacture and store ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel. The complex includes 30 reinforced concrete bunkers, production facilities, development laboratories and command posts, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot quoted "foreign experts" as saying. According to the paper, Syria has 200 Scud-B missiles, 60 Scud-C and a certain number of North Korean Scud-D missiles with a range of 700 kilometres (434 miles), and has developed chemical warheads for all its Scuds...

DAMASCUS, Syria - Hundreds of thousands of Syrians thronged the capital Thursday to support a second seven-year term for President Bashar Assad. The rally came ahead of a referendum Sunday when voters are expected to approve a second mandate for Assad, who succeeded his father, Hafez Assad, in 2000 at the helm of Syria's autocratic regime. There are no other candidates. The demonstration was headed by a number of Syrian officials and ministers. It was one of several rallies held across the country since parliament, dominated by the ruling Baath Party, unanimously nominated 41-year-old Assad for a second term. Celebrations...

After Pelosi’s Syria Visit, Dissidents Cower by Katherine Zoepf Published: May 15, 2007 Photo: Reuters/Sana Nancy Pelosi and Bashar al-Assad. DAMASCUS, SYRIA—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Syria last month, and the related question of whether or not the U.S. should formally re-engage this Baathist republic, remains as controversial a topic on the streets of Damascus as it was in the days afterwards among Beltway bloggers. And, perverse as it may seem to some American liberals, it is the Syrians who are most sympathetic to their progressive values who have been most critical of Ms. Pelosi’s attempts to begin a...