
Syrian presidency urges all parties to respect ceasefire following deadly conflict
The deployment, confirmed by the interior ministry spokesperson on Saturday, coincides with an urgent call from the Syrian presidency for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, urging all parties to commit to ending hostilities across all areas.
Israel had intervened in the conflict earlier this week, hitting government forces and the defence ministry building in Damascus, while declaring support for the Druze minority.
Barrack, who serves as both Washington 's Syria envoy and ambassador to Turkey, stated the ceasefire is supported by Turkey, Jordan, and other neighbouring countries.
Syria's Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before drawing in government security forces that were sent to the area by Damascus.
Barrack said Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire and called on Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons "and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity".
Israel has said it aims to protect Syria's Druze minority while also saying it wants areas of south Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has accused Israel of seeking to sow division among Syrians.
On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.
Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
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The Herald Scotland
20 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Donald Trump: The highs and lows of his relationship with Scotland
Though Trump has said he "feels Scottish", his relationship with the country has had its ups and downs. Here are the highs and the lows. Read More: Trump's Scottish connection The President is connected to Scotland by blood, his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was from Stornoway. Born in the village of Tong in 1912 to Malcolm, a crofter and fisherman, and Mary Ann hers was a tough upbringing, the Hebrides at the time being described by historian James Hunter as "where I always considered human wretchedness to have reached its very acme" and by the President as "serious Scotland". She grew up speaking Gaelic, only learning English when she went to school, but Tong didn't have much to offer a young woman. Mary became one of the roughly half a million Scots who emigrated between 1919 and 1938, with over three-quarters of those heading to North America. The day before her 18th birthday, May 11 1930, she arrived in New York City under immigrant visa 2669191. As she arrived on the RMS Transylvania, Mary would have passed the Statue of Liberty on her way to the immigration centre on Ellis Island. Records show she had never visited the U.S before and was carrying the sum total of $50. Inscribed on the statue, the first thing new immigrants from Europe would see, is a poem which concludes: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me/I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Those lofty sentiments clearly haven't rubbed off on the President who declared in October last year: "We're a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world. Every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country I get angry and angrier." A few years later Mary met property developer Fred Trump and the rest is history. Donald, who was born in 1946, may have been named after her maternal grandfather, who died at sea aged 34 but he's visited Lewis just twice in his life, once as a toddler and once for around 90 minutes on the way to one of his golf courses. Highs Donald Trump with The Wee Red Book at Turnberry (Image: Colin Templeton) While most of Trump's dealings with Scotland and in particular the Scottish Government have been adversarial, there have been some moments of harmony along the way. When the future President first purchased the land which would become Trump International Aberdeen, he was welcomed with open arms by First Minister Jack McConnell. The Scottish Labour leader invited Trump to become a 'Globalscot', a network of overseas Scots and friends of Scotland who served as business ambassadors. McConnell said: "Donald has shown me a real passion for Scotland. He is a globally recognised figure who can help us to promote Scotland. I am delighted that he has taken up my offer. 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Scottish Sun
20 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
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Daily Mirror
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismisses 'daft' wealth tax - 'be serious'
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