Editor Picks

Fixed Borders Separate Syrian 'Mini-States' Pending US-Russian Deal

The “borders” between the three spheres of influence in Syria are fixed, pending a mutual understanding between the United States and Russia.

Syrian Family Reunited, Against the Odds, in Greece

Torn apart in the deadly chaos of an air raid, a Syrian family of seven has been reunited, against the odds, three years later at a refugee shelter in Greece's second city of Thessaloniki, a centuries-old melting point of cultures overlooking the Aegean Sea. When the warplanes screamed in over th

Saudi Arabia, Iran Exploring Means to Limit Regional Tensions

A Saudi foreign ministry official said on Friday that talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran aim to reduce regional tensions but that it was too early to judge the outcome and Riyadh wanted to see “verifiable deeds”. “We hope they prove successful, but it is too early, and premature, to reach any de

The Last Episode: Hafez al-Assad was Much Influenced by his Family Members, Our Relationship Sometimes Reached Rupture

In the eleventh and final episode of the memoirs published by Asharq Al-Awsat, former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam talks about the struggle for power in Syria between then-Defense Minister Hafez Al-Assad and Assistant Secretary-General of the Baath Salah Jadid from 1966 till 1970. He

Ties with Turkey Threaten to Drive Wedge between Libya’s Presidential Council, Interim Govt

Differences “as clear as day” have become apparent between Libyan Presidential Council, chaired by Mohammed al-Menfi, and the Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, over the future of relations with Turkey. The differences emerged during a surprise visited carried out b

Memoirs of Abdel-Halim Khaddam: Syrian Attack on Hezbollah Barracks and Tehran’s Reaction

In mid-February 1986, a delegation of Lebanese Islamic leaders arrived in Damascus and met with Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, requesting the intervention of Syrian forces to impose security in Beirut, after the eruption of clashes. President Hafez al-Assad decided to dispatch a military uni