The move, which is intended to allow Syria’s new leaders the chance to rebuild, follows Britain’s earlier easing of sanctions on Syrian energy companies and the central bank.
Ahmed al-Shara said his government was discussing military support with Russia and Turkey, appealed for a lifting of sanctions and suggested foreign fighters could earn Syrian citizenship.
In an interview with The New York Times, President Ahmed al-Shara urged the United States to lift sanctions and alluded to the possibility of future military support from Russia and Turkey.
The arrests marked a pendulum swing for the government. Under the Assad regime, Syria served as a base of operations for several Palestinian armed factions.
During a visit to Palmyra, reporters found traces of the many forces that had fought over the city and ancient monuments reduced to rubble.
At least in the capital, Damascus, the Christian holiday festivities were protected and joyfully observed. Religious minorities are still wary, however, about the new leaders’ commitment to inclusivity.
A sectarian-fueled killing spree exposed how fragile peace is in Syria, where the government’s control is limited and tension runs deep after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Massacres have spread across once-quiet towns on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, in the deadliest outbreak of sectarian violence since rebels toppled the dictator Bashar al-Assad. Christina Goldbaum, The New York Times’s bureau chief in Syria, travel...
Two Republican congressmen were expected to meet the country’s new leaders and to visit areas destroyed during the long civil war.
Syria’s ousted dictator, Bashar al-Assad, unleashed a Sarin gas strike on the suburbs of Damascus in 2013, killing at least 1,500. Now, the survivors want justice.
La guerra civil siria abrió una brecha entre los habitantes de la pequeña ciudad de Malula, donde dos tercios son cristianos y un tercio musulmanes. ¿Podrán volver a convivir pacíficamente?
The end of the Assad era has reduced some threats, but the Islamic State has shown renewed strength in the country.
Syria’s civil war drove a wedge between the residents of the small town of Maaloula, where two-thirds are Christian and one-third Muslim. Can they live together peacefully again?
Israel, more powerful than ever, has few incentives to make deals with its neighbors.
From Syria, an account of life under siege sets a path for the country’s future.
The two sides have started talks to prevent conflicts between their troops in Syria, amid a growing rivalry for influence in the region.
The U.S. has sent more forces to Syria, tamping down on the immediate threat, but experts warn that the extremist group could break thousands of hardened fighters out of prison.
Plus, Wayne Gretzky’s record finally falls.
The number, far higher than any previous estimate, poses a test for the new government. Experts fear that sarin, chlorine and mustard gas stockpiles could be unsecured.
A group of Jews who left Syria decades ago wants sanctions relief for a government with former ties to Al Qaeda, despite wariness from other Jewish groups and from Israel.
Israel defended the moves as necessary security measures, but Syria accused it of trying to destabilize the country.
Trying to rebuild a war-ravaged country without humanitarian aid or sanction relief is like trying to get up with a boot on your neck.
The militias that control the Druse religious minority’s heartland in southwestern Syria have resisted the new government’s attempts to bring all armed groups under its control.
Israel has built a growing network of outposts and fortifications in Syria and Lebanon, deepening concerns about a protracted occupation in parts of the two countries.
The list of ministers appears to be a compromise between calls for a diverse cabinet to unite the divided country while keeping allies of the interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, in powerful roles.
The choice of cabinet officials was seen as a litmus test for whether the rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad would deliver on a pledge to create a government representative of all Syrians.
Soaring needs and wealthy countries’ focus on Ukraine have left aid agencies with too little money to address the world’s other crises, forcing them to cut programs.