The shadowy leader of a powerful al-Qaida group fighting in Syria sought to kidnap United Nations workers and scrawled out plans for his aides to take over in the event of his death, according to excerpts of letters obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. Iraqi intelligence...

The Syrian government and rebels in a besieged town near Damascus have reached a landmark truce agreement to allow aid access to trapped civilians, an activist told AFP on Wednesday. Under the truce in Moadamiyet al-Sham, the official flag was raised over the area on Wednesday...

Syrian Islamic Front posted online footage for the last operation of Islam Army, IF main unit, showed how the Islamist rebels captured Dumeir ammunition depots 46 km (30 miles)  northeast  Damascus week ago. As a response for this strategic gain in most important...

Israel is working with allies abroad to track Westerners fighting in Syria, concerned that such militants could attack Israeli or Jewish targets once back home, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday. Of an estimated 10,000 foreign combatants among rebels battling Syrian...

Syria's opposition coalition said on Tuesday it would not attend international peace talks in Geneva next month if President Bashar al-Assad's forces continued a fierce air raid campaign on the northern city of Aleppo. More than 300 people had been killed in a week of air raids on...

Russia will host an international meeting on Friday to discuss the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons, Interfax news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying. Experts from Russia, the United States, the United Nations, the Organisation for the Prohibition of...

After fleeing a rebel assault on the historic Syrian town of Maalula, hundreds of Christian families sheltering in Damascus are preparing for a bleak Christmas away from home. The picturesque hamlet -- where residents still speak the ancient Aramaic of Jesus Christ -- was a symbol of...

At this joyous time of year, Zaman Alwasl is grateful for the faithful readers. It wish you abundance, happiness, and peace in a new year filled with hope. Merry Christmas to Syrian people who used to express highest values of coexistence. In this occasion,...

The rebellious neighborhood of Al Waer in embattled Homs has been suffering a sever siege for over 100 days by Assad Army, no food or medicine, local activists said. Starvation policy is the only option to punish people of rebel-held areas, Ahmed Mousa, 32, lives in Al...

  A baby is born to a Syrian refugee family every hour, the United Nations warned on Monday as it launched an appeal to aid Syrian children. Since the start of the conflict almost three years ago, more than 21,000 Syrian babies have been born as refugees in makeshift...

  "Open your hearts to our Syrian brothers,’’ an appeal by the Turkish commission for Education, Culture and Human relief. The Commission has opened shop which sells clothing and other staples in very cheap prices to donate the outcome of this charity to the...

More than 25 Islamist fighting groups in Al Qalamoun, northeast Damascus, have founded a joint command room to lead the ongoing battles near the Lebanese border.   The rebels agreed to operate under Al Nusra Front command, they said in a statement issued today....

The White House on Monday condemned recent missile and barrel bomb attacks on civilians by the Syrian government and said Damascus must respect its commitment to allow unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. "The attacks over the weekend killed more than 300 people, many of them...

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday invitations to the next round of Syria peace talks would be sent by the end of year as he launched a fresh appeal for Iran to participate. "The invitation list is near complete, I hope the question of Iran’s participation is resolved...

The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has received substantial imports of Iraqi crude oil from an Egyptian port in the last nine months, shipping and payments documents show, part of an under-the-radar trade that has kept his military running despite Western sanctions....

A powerful car bomb explosion has rocked a police headquarters in an Egyptian city north of Cairo, killing at least 14 people and injuring 120, officials said. The interim government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating the attack, branding it a "terrorist...

Rebels Joint Chiefs of Staff is in talks with the Islamic Front in order to unite efforts on the ground to confront Assad regime, Chiefs representative in the National Coalition told Zaman Alwasl. Louay al-Miqdad says that ‘Joint Chiefs’ is looking for a common ground...

   A video showed the reunion of two siblings after the Syrian regime heavily shelled Hayan, a town in the northwestern province of Aleppo. In the video, a child begs for help to save his sister trapped under rubble. As a man pulls her free, the boy is heard...

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, which has been ravaged by conflict for almost three years, said Monday his country is being confronted by a major offensive by Islamist extremists. "The country is facing a takfiri ideology," Assad said, using a term for Sunni Muslim extremists....

  The only way to be assured that Syrian chemical weapons will not be used in the future is not through a military strike but through a successful international effort. Regardless of the  postponed congressional vote regarding the use of military force...