Bashar Assad

Thomas Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who was also named as special envoy to Syria last week, raised the American flag over the ambassadorial residence in Damascus on Thursday for the first time since 2012.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of jihadist terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), reportedly offered oil and gas concessions, peaceful relations with Israel, and even a new Trump Tower in the capital of Damascus as inducements for President Donald Trump to meet with him during Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Monday that the junta in Damascus wants to “strengthen relations with China” and develop a “strategic partnership.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Syria’s “interim president” Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday, offering “practical cooperation” and “friendly” relations to “stabilize the situation in the country as soon as possible.”

Thousands of terrified Alawite Muslims fled across the border from Syria into Lebanon over the weekend as Syria’s new jihadi rulers began hunting them down and murdering them for allegedly collaborating with the regime of deposed dictator Bashar Assad.

The government of Syria under the control of jihadist terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) imposed curfews on multiple western regions of the country on Thursday and Friday following what is believed to have been an armed uprising by fighters loyal to deposed dictator Bashar Assad, who fled to Russia in December.

Syria’s “interim president,” Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader and head of the jihadi insurgent group that deposed dictator Bashar Assad in December, visited Jordan on Wednesday for security talks with King Abdullah II.

Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly a high-ranking al-Qaeda leader, said on Tuesday that the one-day “national dialogue summit” he presided over was a “historic” chance for Syria to rebuild after more than a decade of brutal civil war and terrorist insurgency.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), met with China ambassador to Syria this weekend, the first time he has personally devoted time to his country’s relationship with Beijing.

A senior official with the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned on Monday that the Islamic State “exploited the security vacuum” following the fall of dictator Bashar Assad and remains a formidable threat to the country.

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II told the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC, last week that Christians remain apprehensive about the new jihadi regime in Damascus, but they hope to play a “vital and pivotal role” in rebuilding their homeland.

The “Military Operations Command” of the de facto government of Syria, led by the jihadist terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), announced on Wednesday that its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was officially the president of the country.

Russia sent a delegation of high-level diplomats to Damascus on Tuesday, the first official contact between Moscow and the insurgent government that overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December.

The jihadi insurgents who overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December are using Islamic sharia law to train new police recruits – a troubling development for minorities who doubt the new regime’s promises to protect religious freedom.

The jihadi regime ruling Syria after overthrowing the Assad dynasty in December dispatched its foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday to seek foreign investment for their war-torn and terrorist-haunted land.

The leader of the jihadist de facto government of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, published a statement congratulating President Donald Trump on his inauguration on Monday and stating he was “confident” that Trump could “bring peace to the Middle East.”

United Nations refugee commissioner Filippo Grandi reported on Saturday that almost 200,000 refugees have returned to Syria since Iran- and Russia-backed dictator Bashar Assad was overthrown by a jihadi insurgency in early December.

Saudi Arabia hosted a large summit on Sunday — featuring American and European as well as Middle Eastern diplomats — to discuss the future of Syria, during which its officials called for lifting sanctions on the country to give its new regime a chance to recover from the civil war.

The ancient Christian community of Syria is facing an existential threat, particularly in Aleppo, under the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

A delegation representing the nascent government of Syria under the jihadist terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began its first-ever international visit on Wednesday to Saudi Arabia, seeking financing and other support to rebuild the war-torn country.

The head of the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now running Syria, told Saudi media on Sunday that he expects it could take the jihadists up to three years to write a new constitution and four to hold elections.

Syrian Kurds find themselves in a difficult position after the fall of dictator Bashar Assad, as Islamists seize power in Damascus and Turkey seeks to carve out a slice of Syrian territory along its border.

Hundreds of Christians marched through the streets of Damascus on Tuesday to protest the burning of a Christmas tree in a village in central Syria. Christians have been highly skeptical of promises to protect all religious minorities made by the Islamist rebel leaders who overthrew dictator Bashar Assad.

Syrian insurgent leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani when he was a high-ranking al-Qaeda member, on Sunday repeated his promise that the new Syria would be inclusive and respectful of minority groups.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urged Syrians on Sunday to rise up against the insurgents who toppled Tehran’s puppet dictator, Bashar Assad. Khamenei claimed the rebel assault that ended five decades of rule by the Assad dynasty was organized and directed by the United States and Israel.

Hundreds of people convened in the heart of Damascus on Thursday demanding the regime replacing ousted longtime dictator Bashar Assad respect women and the basic civil rights of all.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at any time he revealed Thursday during a lengthy year-end press conference.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin insisted on Thursday that Russia achieved its strategic goals with its military presence in Syria even with the collapsed of the regime of ally Bashar Assad – who has since fled to Moscow, where Putin promised to meet with him soon.

The terrorist formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), rebranded himself as a Western-friendly statesman in an interview published by France 24 on Tuesday, shortly after his group ousted Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Western powers, including the United States, are tentatively opening lines of communication to the new rulers of Syria — an alliance of Islamists led by an al-Qaeda splinter group whose boss is, inconveniently, a designated terrorist with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head.

President-elect Donald Trump described the collapse of the Bashar Assad regime as the culmination of years of interference by Turkey.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia allied with America, confirmed on Monday that a short-lived truce with Islamist Turkish proxies in the country had collapsed due to Turkey’s intransigence.

The new rulers of Syria are reportedly attempting to capture members of former dictator Bashar Assad’s “Shabiha” repressive force, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday.

Members of Syria’s Alawite community — a small but formerly influential Shiite sect whose members included dictator Bashar Assad — are fearful of persecution at the hands of the Sunni Muslim extremist groups that deposed Assad in a swift attack on Damascus last week.

A statement purportedly from former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad appeared on social media on Monday.