Tag Archives: Syria

Iraq arrests former security official over execution of Shiite cleric who opposed Saddam Hussein

Muhamad Yehia BAGHDAD  — Iraq’s National Security Agency said Friday it arrested a former high-level security official for his involvement in the 1980 execution of a prominent Shiite cleric and his sister during Saddam Hussein ’s brutal crackdown on religious opposition. Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr was a leading Iraqi Shiite cleric and …

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Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

Muhamad Yehia QAMISHLI, Syria  — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the …

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Concern over Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile triggers emergency meeting of global monitor

Muhamad Yehia THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The global chemical weapons watchdog opened an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation in Syria over concerns about the country’s stockpile of toxic chemicals in the wake of the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons …

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US says it will support new Syrian leaders who protect women and renounce terrorism

Muhamad Yehia WASHINGTON  — The Biden administration said Tuesday it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. would work with groups in …

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