As Western countries display increasing alarm at the strength of multinational Islamist extremists among rebels in Syria opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian official was quoted on Wednesday as saying Western intelligence agencies had sent representatives to Damascus...

The suspected leader of an al Qaeda-linked militant group that claimed responsibility for bombing the Iranian embassy in Beirut two months ago died in custody on Saturday, security sources said. Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, a Saudi national who was wanted by authorities in his own...

Armed with machine guns, black-clad al Qaeda fighters drove their pick-ups calmly into the northern Syrian town and took over its imposing agriculture ministry building. They beheaded a sniper from a rival rebel unit, displayed his head in the main square and put roadblocks on major...

Islamist fighters in Syria have taken over the ancient quarter of the Christian town of Maaloula and are holding several nuns in a monastery there, state news agency SANA said on Monday. Fighting for the town, about five km (three miles) from the main road linking Damascus to Homs, is...