Fighters loyal to al Qaida have opened up a new offensive against a U.S.-backed rebel group that once escorted U.S. Sen. John McCain into northern Syria, according to Internet postings and news accounts. The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, an al Qaida affiliate whose fighters come from a...

  If we confine our choices to leaders with broad appeal in the Arab and Islamist mainstream — excluding both al-Qaida and Kurdish leaders — we get the following five, listed in order. Hassan Abboud 1. Hassan Abboud,  the general...

Many activists have chosen to stay and work in the liberated areas in Syria refusing to leave the country, despite the risk and harassment they face from some extremist battalions, especially in the countryside of Damascus. The most recent and prominent incidence was the insult...

Turkish parliament has begun working after a two-and-a-half month break as Turkey braces for a new wave of democratic reforms announced on Monday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaker Cemil Cicek delivered opening remarks at the first Parliament session on...