Bashar al-Assad - Page 22

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Democrat Hillary Clinton’s plan for Syria would “lead to World War Three,” because of the potential for conflict with military forces from nuclear-armed Russia.

Contents: South Africa’s withdrawal throws future of International Criminal Court into doubt; Is the ICC racially biased against Africans?; The fallacy of prosecuting war crimes

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday the door to electing a president was “wide open” and his members of parliament would vote for ally Michel Aoun at a parliamentary session at the end of October.

Contents: Russia’s warship fleet sails through English Channel to Syria; Russia extends ‘humanitarian pause’ in Aleppo Syria

The Russian and Syrian bombing raids in Aleppo have had horrific results with nearly 500 dead, while food rations are expected to run out by the end of the month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

The Syrian military said on Thursday a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave besieged eastern Aleppo, a move that the rebels have said is part of a psychological campaign to get them to surrender.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton stood behind her pledge to create a no-fly zone in Syria Wednesday, but said it would have to be negotiated rather than imposed.

Bashar Assad’s wife Asma granted her first interview in eight years to the Rossiya 24 news channel of Russia, as transcribed by RT.com. In the interview, she blamed Western powers for prolonging the Syrian civil war, laid responsibility for the human carnage at their feet, and accused Western media of hyping tragedies that are politically harmful to her husband.

Contents: Egypt votes for two contradictory UN Security Council proposals on Syria; Saudis retaliate against Egypt, which may turn to Iran for oil

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made clear he wants Turkey to play a significant role in the liberation of Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State (ISIS). The Iraqi government has rejected Turkey’s advances, however, and while Erdogan waits for an opportunity to participate in that offensive, he has begun discussing similar military activity against ISIS “capital,” Raqqa, Syria.

Syria’s first lady Asma al-Assad said she rejected multiple offers to flee the war-ravaged country with her children, according to an interview with broadcaster Russia24 aired on Tuesday.

In a discussion with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein in 2013, Hillary Clinton asserted that the 2011 uprising in Libya that led to the demise of dictator Muammar Qaddafi resulted in “very few civilian casualties,” comparing it favorably to the Syrian Civil War.

Iran has rejected remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry that its policies in Syria and Yemen are blocking efforts to encourage banks to do business with it.

Syrian rebels dealt a major symbolic blow to the Islamic State group on Sunday by capturing the town of Dabiq where the jihadists had promised an apocalyptic battle.

Top diplomats were to meet in Switzerland Saturday in a fresh push to revive a ceasefire in Syria, after pro-government forces intensified their bombardment of the battered city of Aleppo.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad said in a Friday interview with a Russian newspaper that the brutal Syrian-Russian assault on Aleppo was necessary to push “terrorists” back to Turkey, accused Turkey of illegally invading his country with military forces, and said Syria was becoming the battleground for a new Cold War between Russia and the United States.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army’s capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be “a very important springboard” to pushing “terrorists” back to Turkey.

Contents: UN report on Burundi documents massive human rights violations; Burundi lawmakers vote to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC)

The Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah vowed to maintain its “jihad” in neighboring Syria at a huge rally in Beirut on Wednesday, a day after its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the war was in a phase of escalation.

In one of the lower moments from the 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama razzed Mitt Romney for describing Russia as a prime American strategic enemy. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” Obama sneered.

A Syrian opposition website has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to create a situation that is more beneficial to his own interests even as he takes advantage of the time he has left before the “lame duck” in Washington is replaced and that “it is clear to Putin that the next administration will take a much tougher stance against the Kremlin.”

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday the Middle East was in a phase of escalating tension and there appeared to be no prospect of a political solution to the war in Syria.

The latest WikiLeaks document dump on Hillary Clinton includes an August 18, 2014 email she sent to John Podesta, who is currently her campaign chairman, but was a counselor to the Obama White House at the time.

Moscow has reportedly accused the United States of “taking aggressive steps” that “pose a threat” to Russian “national security.”

Contents: Turkey’s Erdogan and Russia’s Putin sign TurkStream gas pipeline deal; Turkey-Russia TurkStream deal based on pragmatism rather than reconciliation

Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.

The armed forces of Iraq will directly attack their Turkish counterparts if the government of Turkey decides to deploy more troops to fight the Islamic State within that country, Iraqi officials have reportedly said, following blistering statements from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Contents: Russian Trolls; Popularity of Bashar al-Assad; Russian shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17; The future of the Mideast

The United States shows no sign of preparing to get involved in the fighting in Syria, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem. Despite evidence that the Syrian civil war is tilting in the favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime

The risk of a military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah has become significantly greater over the past few weeks, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Iraqi Shiite militia fighters are “pouring into Syria to reinforce the Assad regime’s siege of Aleppo, further complicating the tangled web of alliances the U.S. relies on to fight Islamic State, which can turn an ally on one side of the border into an enemy on the other.”

Contents: UN envoy Staffan de Mistura ask al-Nusra fighters to leave Aleppo; Staffan de Mistura predicts total destruction of Aleppo by Christmas

The implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers is still fragile, the head of the UN agency that polices Iran’s side of the deal has said, warning that small mistakes could have grave consequences.

Contents: Russia continues large air defense military buildup in Syria; Concerns about possible US-Russia military conflict continue to grow

Moscow’s year-long bombing campaign in Syria has showcased the “reliability” of Russian weaponry, as the Kremlin has helped stabilise the war-ravaged country, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States has suspended negotiations with Russia over the war in Syria, accusing the Kremlin for the collapse of the most recent ceasefire and of joining forces loyal to Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad in targeting civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo rather than fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).