Shortly before its operatives killed 14 Iraqi Shiite children in a school bombing this month, the group once known as al-Qaeda in Iraq sent guerrillas into northern Syrian villages with orders to reopen local Sunni classrooms. In a series of early fall visits, the militants handed out religious...

The head of the United Nations on Sunday named Sigrid Kaag to lead the UN’s joint mission with the chemical weapons watchdog tasked with eliminating Syria’s arsenal, diplomats said. The UN Security Council, which is set to vote on Kaag’s nomination Wednesday, has...

The message came from an unknown sender shortly after Iskandar's daughter disappeared. She had been missing three days when it arrived, taken while en route to the airport in the capital Damascus. "We have your daughter Judy. We will tell you a time and place to bring the money," the...

  Once seen as the capital of Syria's revolution, Homs is now caught in a vicious stalemate between regime and rebel forces. James Harkin, the British Guardian reporter visits a divided city, where kidnappings are rife and chemical disarmament a low priority I first met Abu Ali at...