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Syria Begins Building Joint Syrian-Russian Oil Geology Data Center

Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
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Syria Begins Building Joint Syrian-Russian Oil Geology Data Center

Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)

Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem announced on Thursday that Syria is looking forward to constructing a data center for oil geology in Damascus with Moscow’s help, as part of a roadmap signed lately between the two countries.

In an interview with the Sputnik agency, Ghanem said his country would be contributing technical equipment to the project.

"This center will be located in Damascus. We have a timetable for [the project's] implementation and have already begun the construction. As for the special technologies for the center, they will be provided by the Russian side,” the Syrian Minister explained.

Ghanem said the center’s staff would include specialists from both Syria and Russia.

The center is part of the cooperation roadmap that the Syrian government signed with the Russian Energy Ministry during the joint Russian-Syrian intergovernmental commission meeting held on December 23-24 in Moscow.

"I believe the cooperation with the Gubkin University [Russian National University of Oil and Gas] will be fruitful. The center will become the key information hub for the entire oil geology sector," Ghanem said.

Meanwhile, top adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad Bouthaina Shaaban said the US has 'absolutely no right' to Syria’s oil and warned of 'operations' against American troops.

She said her country is considering suing the US in an international court over the “theft of Syria’s oil.”

The German news agency quoted Shaaban as saying that Syria has begun an oil and gas exploration project in the Mediterranean with Russian companies.   

Last October, US President Donald Trump withdrew the majority of the US Armed Forces from Syria before the Pentagon announced that 600 soldiers were staying put to guard the country's oil fields.

Commenting on the situation in Idlib, Shaaban said the military operation there has begun and that Russian warplanes were supporting the Syrian Army.

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Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
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Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)

Lebanon’s veteran Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Thursday called on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group to hand its weapons over to the state, saying arms must be exclusively under government control.

Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party said, “Weapons should only be in the hands of the Lebanese state,” adding that the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a long-disputed area on the western slopes of Mount Hermon, are Syrian territory.

Jumblatt’s appeal comes amid growing international calls for Hezbollah to disarm and for the Lebanese government to implement its longstanding pledge—reiterated in its ministerial statement and by President Joseph Aoun during his swearing-in—to ensure that only state institutions bear arms.

His remarks also come as Washington renews its push to resolve files with Syria, including border demarcation, as part of wider regional realignments.

“There’s a new chapter unfolding in the Middle East,” Jumblatt said. “If any Lebanese or non-Lebanese party possesses weapons, I hope they will hand them over to the state in a proper manner.”

He described “the most valuable weapon for future generations” as being one of “memory”—urging the country to pass down stories of resistance against Israel and its collaborators rather than stockpiles of arms.

Jumblatt said he had recently informed the president of the presence of weapons in his hometown of Mukhtara and asked the relevant security agencies to take over the matter. The arms, collected gradually since the May 2008 clashes between Hezbollah and his party, were fully handed over more than three weeks ago.

The arsenal, he said, consisted of light and medium-grade weapons that had been centrally gathered over the years.

He noted that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri—himself a close ally of Hezbollah—remained a “friend and ally,” but added: “The issue of weapons has no bearing on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has long justified its arsenal as essential to liberating the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills, areas Israel did not vacate during its 2000 withdrawal from south Lebanon. In recent years, the dispute has expanded to include 13 border points and the northern section of the village of Ghajar, which Israel annexed in 2022.

“Shebaa Farms are covered under UN Resolution 242. It is Syrian land occupied by Israel,” Jumblatt said.

He urged support for the Lebanese army and internal security forces, stressing that Israel still occupies territory and that several Lebanese villages remain destroyed.

He also called for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“In this round, Israel and the West have won with US backing,” he said. “But nothing lasts forever.”