As the rebels swept across Syria, symbols that had once seemed omnipresent collapsed. In Aleppo, a statue of one of Mr. al-Assad’s brothers, Bassel al-Assad, on a horse was toppled. The horse remained. In a village north of Damascus, the…
Tag: Assad
Ancient Syrian Town Seeks Interfaith Peace After Long War
Inside a centuries-old monastery atop a mountain in western Syria, a priest swung an incense holder on a chain, led his flock in melodic chants and delivered a timeless sermon on the importance of loving one’s neighbor. But when the…
Syria Likely Has Over 100 Chemical Weapons Sites, Inspectors Say
More than 100 chemical weapons sites are suspected to remain in Syria, left behind after the fall of the longtime president, Bashar al-Assad, according to the leading international organization that tracks these weapons. That number is the first estimate of…
Surprising Allies for Syria’s New Leaders: Some Jews Who Fled Long Ago
Now, his relatives are making the rounds in Washington with Mr. Moustafa, who said they had met with people at the National Security Council, the State Department and on Capitol Hill. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that a meeting took…
Druse Militia Refuse to Join Syria’s New Army
The trainer paced the grounds of a mountain enclave in southwestern Syria, shouting at dozens of new recruits as they drilled sprints between barricades made from old car tires. “You have to practice as if it’s real,” screamed the instructor,…
Syrians Wake Up to a New Government
Syrians on Sunday were digesting the overnight announcement of a caretaker government that will be in power for the next five years, accepting with some resignation the continued dominance of the rebel group that seized power in December but welcoming…
Syria’s Leader Appoints New Government After Ousting Assad
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, announced late Saturday the formation of a caretaker government that will lead the country through a crucial transition as it emerges from more than 50 years of dictatorship under the Assad family’s iron-fisted rule. Mr.…
Violence in Syria Shows Difficulty in Unifying Armed Forces
Syria’s new president has spoken often about the urgency of merging the many armed groups that fought to topple the strongman Bashar al-Assad into a unified national army. But the spasm of violence that erupted this month in northwestern Syria,…
What Syria’s New Temporary Constitution Says
Syria’s new government has adopted a temporary constitution that concentrates much power in the hands of the interim president and retains Islamic law as the foundation of the legal system. The interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, signed the constitutional declaration on…
Syrians Want to Go Home, but Many No Longer Have One to Return To
Lubna Labaad walked among a flattened wasteland that was once her neighbors’ homes. The only building left standing was a mosque, a years-old message scrawled on its outer wall from when rebels surrendered control of the area to the Syrian…