Latest news with #DAMASCUS
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Syrian president says unifying country 'should not be with blood'
DAMASCUS, Aug 17 — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the battle to unify his country after years of civil war 'should not be with blood', rejecting any partition and accusing Israel of meddling in the south. His remarks, released by state TV today, came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria's Sweida province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province. 'We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war,' Sharaa said during a dialogue session involving notables from the northwest province of Idlib and other senior officials. 'I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons... this matter is impossible,' he said according to a recording of the meeting, distributed overnight by state media. 'Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented,' he said. At the protest in Sweida, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag and called for self-determination for the region. A week of bloodshed in Sweida began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, with Israel also carrying out strikes. Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. Sharaa said that Sweida 'witnessed many violations from all sides... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations'. The state is required 'to hold all perpetrators of violations to account', whatever their affiliation, he added. 'Israel is intervening directly in Sweida, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region,' Sharaa said. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it has acted to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarisation of southern Syria. Syria's new authorities are also in talks with a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that runs swathes of the country's north and northeast and has called for decentralisation, which Damascus has rejected. Implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds' semi-autonomous civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by differences between the parties. 'We are now discussing the mechanisms for implementation' of the deal, Sharaa said. — AFP
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Syrian president says unifying country ‘should not be with blood'
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has said the battle to unify his country after years of civil war 'should not be with blood,' rejecting any partition and accusing Israel of meddling in the south. His remarks, released by state TV on Sunday, came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria's Sweida province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province. 'We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war,' Sharaa said during a dialogue session involving notables from the northwest province of Idlib and other senior officials. 'I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons... this matter is impossible,' he said according to a recording of the meeting, distributed overnight by state media. 'Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented,' he said. At the protest in Sweida, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag and called for self-determination for the region. A week of bloodshed in Sweida began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, with Israel also carrying out strikes. Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. Sharaa said that Sweida 'witnessed many violations from all sides... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations.' The state is required 'to hold all perpetrators of violations to account,' whatever their affiliation, he added. 'Israel is intervening directly in Sweida, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region,' Sharaa said. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it has acted to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria. Syria's new authorities are also in talks with a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that runs swathes of the country's north and northeast and has called for decentralization, which Damascus has rejected. Implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds' semi-autonomous civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by differences between the parties. 'We are now discussing the mechanisms for implementation' of the deal, Sharaa said.
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
US congressman discusses with Syrian president return of body of American killed in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria — U.S. Congressman Abraham Hamadeh made a brief visit to Syria where he discussed with the country's interim president the return of the body of an American aid worker who was taken hostage and later confirmed dead in the war-torn country, his office said Monday. Hamadeh's visit to Syria comes as a search has been underway in remote parts of the country for the remains of people who were killed by the Islamic State group that once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat six years ago.
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
US congressman discusses with Syrian president return of body of American killed in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — U.S. Congressman Abraham Hamadeh made a brief visit to Syria where he discussed with the country's interim president the return of the body of an American aid worker who was taken hostage and later confirmed dead in the war-torn country, his office said Monday. Hamadeh's visit to Syria comes as a search has been underway in remote parts of the country for the remains of people who were killed by the Islamic State group that once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat six years ago. Kayla Mueller, 26, was captured in northern Syria in August 2013 and her family and U.S. officials confirmed her death more than a year later. Hamadeh, an Arizona Republican, has vowed to return Mueller's body — which has not yet been found — to her family. Hamadeh's office said he was in Syria for six hours to meet President Ahmad al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Mueller's body to her family in Arizona. The statement added that Hamadeh also discussed the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to the southern province of Sweida that recently witnessed deadly clashes between pro-government fighters and gunmen from the country's Druze minority. A Syrian government official did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Hamadeh's statement. Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by IS militants who declared a so-called caliphate in 2014. The militant group lost most of its territory in Iraq in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019 when it lost the last sliver of land it controlled in east Syria. Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people IS had abducted over the years. American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Mueller and Peter Kassig are among those killed by IS. None of the remains is believed to have been found. Mueller, from Prescott, Arizona, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Omar Alkhani, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, where he had been hired to fix the internet service for the hospital. Mueller had begged him to let her tag along because she wanted to do relief work in the war-ravaged country. Alkhani was released after two months, having been beaten. In 2015, the Pentagon said Mueller died at the hands of IS and not in a Jordanian airstrike targeting the militant group as the extremists claimed earlier. ____ Mroue reported from Beirut.
Arab News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
US congressman discusses with Syrian president return of body of American killed in Syria
DAMASCUS: US Congressman Abraham Hamadeh made a brief visit to Syria where he discussed with the country's interim president the return of the body of an American aid worker who was taken hostage and later confirmed dead in the war-torn country, his office said Monday. Hamadeh's visit to Syria comes as a search has been underway in remote parts of the country for the remains of people who were killed by the Daesh group that once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat six years ago. Kayla Mueller, 26, was captured in northern Syria in August 2013 and her family and US officials confirmed her death more than a year later. Hamadeh, an Arizona Republican, has vowed to return Mueller's body — which has not yet been found — to her family. Hamadeh's office said he was in Syria for six hours to meet President Ahmad Al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Mueller's body to her family in Arizona. The statement added that Hamadeh also discussed the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to the southern province of Sweida that recently witnessed deadly clashes between pro-government fighters and gunmen from the country's Druze minority. A Syrian government official did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Hamadeh's statement. Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by IS militants who declared a so-called caliphate in 2014. The militant group lost most of its territory in Iraq in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019 when it lost the last sliver of land it controlled in east Syria. Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people IS had abducted over the years. American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Mueller and Peter Kassig are among those killed by IS. None of the remains is believed to have been found. Mueller, from Prescott, Arizona, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Omar Alkhani, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, where he had been hired to fix the Internet service for the hospital. Mueller had begged him to let her tag along because she wanted to do relief work in the war-ravaged country. Alkhani was released after two months, having been beaten. In 2015, the Pentagon said Mueller died at the hands of IS and not in a Jordanian airstrike targeting the militant group as the extremists claimed earlier.
