BEIRUT, May 25 (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces arrested an influential Syrian-born Islamist cleric on Sunday who went into hiding last month after a crackdown in the northern city of Tripoli to end sectarian violence fuelled by civil war in neighbouring Syria. Omar Bakri,...

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( Vice News - By Sara Elizabeth Williams ) As regime planes and helicopters ratchet up a massive offensive now in its second week, alliances in southern Syria’s rebel-held ground are beginning to shift under the weight of increasing foreign support and long-simmering ideological...

As Islamist rebels were negotiating a merger to form the Islamic Front, their Qatari sponsors approached them with a proposal. The Qataris asked the rebel groups to issue a moderate founding statement that would make no reference to an Islamic state, in exchange for public and official...