Tribes are supplying oil and gas to both the government and rebels to spare their villages from attack – and make money A northern wind had been blowing since early morning, lifting a veil of dust that had blocked the sun and turned the sky the colour of ash. Abu Zayed was sitting...

When historians look back on the American path to war in Syria, two comments by President Obama will stand out. The first was his statement—repeated as a sort of sideline cheer for the Arab Spring—that “Assad must go.” This was a diplomatic error that could not be walked back: it...

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Tuesday that a conference on ending the war in  Syria  was unlikely to take place in July as he had hoped, and called on the United States and  Russia  to help contain the conflict. Brahimi was speaking to reporters...

  Syria's military pounded rebel bastions in Damascus on Tuesday and   Saudi Arabia   demanded an arms embargo on what it called President Bashar al-Assad's genocidal and illegitimate regime. Attacking  Iran , Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah for supporting Assad,...