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Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)

Syria on Saturday detained a prominent Damascus-based Palestinian official whose group was close to the government of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Talal Naji, 79, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, or PFLP-GC, was detained Saturday morning shortly after he left his house with a driver and two guards, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, added that shortly after Naji was detained near his home in the Mazze neighborhood, security officials came to his home and questioned two unarmed guards for about an hour.

A Syrian government official told the AP that Naji was taken for questioning and should be released later. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The PFLP-GC became known for dramatic attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and the machine gunning of another airliner at Zurich airport in 1969. In 1970, it planted a bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard.

Naji’s arrest comes nearly two weeks after Syrian authorities detained two members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The group identified the two officials arrested at the time as its leader in Syria Khaled Khaled and another senior official Yasser Zafari. The Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Under Assad, several Palestinians factions were based in Syria and some of them remained after the fall of his 54-year Assad family in December.

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Arab World

Reports: US to Withdraw All Troops from Syria

A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
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Reports: US to Withdraw All Troops from Syria

A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)
A US Army patrol in the Syrian city of Qamishli (Reuters file photo)

The United States is planning to withdraw all of its 1,000 troops from Syria over the next two months, according to US media reports.

Washington will end its presence in the country after the Syrian government extended its control over the country and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces once key to fighting ISIS pledged to integrate into the state, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Television network CBS also reported on the plan, citing unnamed US officials.

The decision comes after US forces recently withdrew from some bases
in Syria including Al-Tanf and Al-Shadadi, which were used in the US-led international coalition's fight against ISIS, AFP reported.

The US is building up its military capabilities near Iran, where officials have vowed to respond to any attack by laying siege to American military outposts in the region.

US media reported Wednesday that Washington will be ready to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend, though Trump has reportedly not made a final decision yet.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arab World

Canada Eases Sanctions on Syria

13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
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Canada Eases Sanctions on Syria

13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa
13 February 2026, Bavaria, Munich: Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, arrives at the Bavarian Hof for the 62nd Munich Security Conference. Photo: Felix Hörhager/dpa

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand said on Wednesday that Canada had amended its economic sanctions on Syria ‌to ease ‌restrictions related ‌to the ⁠import and export ⁠of goods, investment activities and the provision of financial and other ⁠services, according to Reuters.

"The amendments also ‌remove ‌24 entities and ‌one individual from ‌the Syria Regulations to reduce barriers to economic activity and ‌to enable transactions with state-affiliated entities ⁠in ⁠key sectors critical to Syria’s recovery," Anand said in a statement.

Arab World

Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
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Tetteh: Despite UN Engagement, No Progress in Libya Roadmap

Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)
Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Hanna Tetteh Getty)

The UN’s top envoy for Libya, Hanna Tetteh, has informed the Security Council that despite active United Nations engagement, the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State have failed to make progress on the first steps of the agreed political roadmap, including establishing a mechanism to select the board of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and advancing electoral legislation.

Briefing the Council in New York on Wednesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General said: “Their inability to use their agreed mechanism and follow-on unilateral actions has further eroded their credibility."

Tetteh added that Libyan public perceptions reflect a growing belief that the bodies are “unable or unwilling” to deliver.

She told Council members that she has begun consultations with key actors on an alternative two-step approach aimed at restoring momentum. Should a smaller group of Libyan representatives fail to agree on the roadmap’s milestones, she warned, a broader convening would be required. “We cannot wait indefinitely,” she emphasized.

The UN envoy also issued a stark warning about escalating tensions within Libya’s judicial system.

She said “contradictory, parallel judicial decisions put into jeopardy the unity of the legal and judicial systems,” cautioning that the situation “is a red line that if crossed can undermine the unity of the state.”

She urged Libyan leaders to refrain from further escalatory steps and called on the Council to hold accountable those taking actions that threaten to fracture the judiciary.

Tetteh also warned that transnational criminal networks continue to expand, turning Libya into a major transit hub for drug trafficking and sustaining illicit economies linked to corruption and armed groups.