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Few options for Syria's Assad to strike back after Israeli raids

May 7, 2013 10:38
By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has few good options for military retaliation after Israel's air strikes over the weekend but the attacks could redouble support from his regional allies Iran and Hezbollah. Assad, already battling rebel fighters who have seized large parts of his country and killed many thousands of his troops, can ill afford to confront the region's dominant military power in a devastating and likely one-sided war.

Israeli attack exposes Assad's air defense weakness: rebels

May 7, 2013 10:31
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - It was too late when air raid sirens wailed at one of Syria's most fortified military compounds. Israeli jets were already attacking the Hameh complex and civilian employees in nearby housing were scrambling for cover with their families.

Assad makes appearance in Syria capital

Agence France-PresseMay 4, 2013 06:45
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad made a public appearance on Saturday, attending the unveiling of a statue to "martyrs" at Damascus University, state media and his official Facebook page said. "President Bashar al-Assad joined thousands of students and the families of martyred students at the unveiling of a statue to the memory of the martyrs of Syria's universities at the University of Damascus," state television reported. A photograph posted on the presidency's Facebook page showed Assad surrounded by bodyguards and well-wishers, arms extended in a bid to shake his hand.

Syria's Assad makes rare public visit for May Day

Agence France-PresseMay 1, 2013 09:01
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public visit on Wednesday to an electrical plant in central Damascus to mark Labour Day, the presidency's official Facebook page said. "President Assad is now visiting the Umayyad electrical plant in Tishreen Garden in Damascus and congratulates its workers and Syria's workers on their holiday," the Facebook page said. It published a picture of the president addressing a crowd of workers, some of them wearing or holding hard hats.

Assad urges Lebanon to help fight his foes -Lebanese delegates

April 22, 2013 12:45
By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad believes neighbouring Lebanon cannot shield itself from the civil war in his country and that both states should fight his opponents, three members of a Lebanese delegation who visited Assad said on Monday. Lebanon, which suffered its own civil war from 1975 to 1990 and endured a military presence by its historically dominant neighbour for 29 years until 2005, has maintained a policy of "dissociation" from Syria's two-year-old conflict.

Assad says Qusayr now 'main battle': Lebanon ex-MP

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 11:01
Syria's "main battle" at present is raging in the Qusayr area, close to the Lebanese border, President Bashar al-Assad reportedly told Lebanese politicians this weekend. Speaking to a delegation of Lebanese backers of his regime, Assad said his forces were determined to succeed in the area "at any cost," according to Abdel Rahim Mrad, a former MP who spoke to AFP after the meeting in Damascus. "The main battle is taking place in Qusayr," he quoted Assad as saying.

Iran says wants Assad to stay on and contest 2014 poll

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 08:16
Iran wants Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad to stay on and contest the presidential election scheduled for next year, a visiting senior Iranian envoy said on Monday. "We think the best scenario is for Mr Assad to remain president of the republic until the summer of 2014," said Aladin Borujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign affairs commission. "After that, free elections will be held and the Syrian people can express themselves and decide on their future," he told a Damascus press conference after a meeting with Iran's ally Assad.

Assad's forces kill 85 in Damascus suburb, activists say

April 21, 2013 13:45
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 85 people when they stormed a Damascus suburb after five days of fighting, opposition activists in the area said on Sunday. There was no immediate confirmation of the activists' account of what they described as a "massacre", including of women and children, at Jdeidet al-Fadel. Syrian authorities have banned most independent media since the uprising began in 2011.

Syria's Assad warns Jordan as southern border seethes

April 19, 2013 09:45
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Bashar al-Assad's first public warning to Jordan over its role in channelling Islamist Sunni Muslim rebels to southern Syria, close to Damascus, points to a president increasingly rattled by the threat of a push against his stronghold in the capital. Assad told Jordan this week it would be playing with fire by supporting the rebels, saying the Western-backed kingdom was just as vulnerable as his country to al Qaeda militants gaining ground in Syria's two-year conflict.

Assad holds to hardline on rebel battle

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 09:00
With the conflict ravaging his country in its third year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is maintaining a hardline stance, insisting he will triumph over rebel forces and all but ruling out dialogue. In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, the embattled leader struck a combative tone, again dubbing the opposition forces fighting his regime as "terrorists" and saying there was "no option but victory." "It was a very provocative address. He is even more determined than before," Rime Allaf, a Syria expert at London's Chatham House think tank, told AFP.
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