Syria

19 May 2023; MEMO: As Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad addressed Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Friday, a group of Syrian refugees was in Germany learning to use international law to prosecute war criminals – which they hoped to apply to him some day, Reuters reports.

18 May 2023; MEMO: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is heading to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to attend the Arab League's 32nd Summit, which will be held on Friday, 19 May, in his first visit to the Kingdom since before the outbreak of the 2011 uprising.

The official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported that Assad's participation in the Arab Summit comes after he received an official invitation from the Saudi King, Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

16 May 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates has invited Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, to the COP28 climate summit it is hosting at the end of the year, possibly placing him in the same venue as Western leaders who have opposed and sanctioned him for years, Syrian state news agency, SANA, reports.

According to the report, the invitation was extended by UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the UAE embassy in Damascus tweeted the same.

DAMASCUS, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The return of Syria to the Arab League (AL) and the normalization of relations with most Arab countries revealed that the impact of the U.S. interventionist policies in the region is fading away as the Arab countries realize that U.S. interference has only plunged the region into instability and chaos, experts in Syria have said.

After 12 years of suspension, Arab foreign ministers finally met at an AL extraordinary meeting on May 7 in Cairo that restored Syria's membership in the league.

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — The leader of an insurgent group that rules much of northwest Syria rose to notoriety over the past decade by claiming deadly bombings, threatening revenge against Western “crusader” forces and dispatching Islamist religious police to crack down on women deemed to be immodestly dressed.

Today the man known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani is trying hard to distance his group, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, known as HTS, from its al-Qaida origins, spreading a message of pluralism and religious tolerance.

DAMASCUS, May 10 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian Foreign Ministry announced yesterday, the resumption of its diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia, following a reciprocal move from the kingdom.

The decision to reopen the diplomatic mission emanates from the deep ties between both countries, their people’s aspirations, and the importance of enhancing bilateral relations among Arab countries, to serve the joint Arab work, the Syrian ministry said in a statement.

03 May 2023; MEMO: Overlooked by a portrait of President Bashar Al-Assad and offering sticky sweets, a Syrian tourism booth in Dubai is trying to seize on an emerging rapprochement with Arab States to win back Gulf tourists it lost during more than a decade of war, Reuters reports.

DAMASCUS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began talks with visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who arrived in Syria Wednesday on the first visit by an Iranian president since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, according to the state news agency SANA.

An official reception ceremony was held upon Raisi's arrival at the Al-Sha'ab presidential palace in Damascus, where Assad was waiting for him.

Both leaders reviewed the honor guard before heading into the palace and starting their talks, SANA said.

DAMASCUS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Syria on Wednesday with top ministers, marking the first visit by an Iranian president since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, according to the state news agency SANA.

Raisi was received by Syrian foreign ministry officials and representatives from the Syrian presidency at Damascus International Airport.

02 May 2023; MEMO: A Syrian regime soldier was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Aleppo Airport in northern Syria, according to the state news agency, SANA, on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

SANA, citing a military source, said two civilians and five soldiers were injured in the attack that put Aleppo Airport out of service.

There was no comment from Israel on the report.