bashar al assad

Putin in quick trip to Egypt, Syria

Putin, left, last visited Egypt and met with El-Sisi in February 2015 [Xinhua]
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the strategic ties with Egypt during his one day trip to Cairo.
He arrived in Cairo for a scheduled visit and left a few hours later.
He had made a surprise visit to Syria earlier in the day, where he also met with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad at a Russian air force base there.

Iran, Russia, Turkey to call for int’l conference on Syria

Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan say the end of the war in Syria is at hand [PPIO]
The Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey have concluded a tripartite summit on Syria in Sochi and say there is a real chance for peace now that the Islamic State has been largely defeated.
With IS forces routed in Syria (and Iraq), a cessation of hostilities in full effect, and hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees returning home, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there is a real chance a political settlement will end the seven-year civil war.

Assad tells Putin: Ready to move with political process in Syria

Al Assad meets with Putin in Sochi, Russia on Tuesday November 21, 2017 [PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin will call his American counterpart after Syrian President Bashar Al Assad concludes his trip to the Russian port city of Sochi.
“Already a talk is planned with the emir of Qatar and tomorrow—with the President of the U.S. Donald Trump, while afterwards (I will speak) with leaders from countries in the region,” a statement from the Kremlin quoted Putin on Tuesday.

Russia blocks UN draft on Syria, cites ‘Western bias’

Russia has vetoes 11 draft resolutions on Syria which it says are unfair and biased, often following “fabricated” evidence [Xinhua]
Russia has for the second time this week vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council aimed at renewing the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which investigates chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
The vetoed drafted presented by Japan to the Security Council on Saturday was designed to give JIM a temporary extension to continue its work.

Russia: Islamic State routed in Syria

The Syrian army said its soldiers have surrounded Islamic State elements in Deir e Zor along the eastern border with Iraq [Xinhua]
The Russian military says that the Islamic State in Syria has been nearly routed even as the Syrian Arab Army announces that it has retaken yet more territory from the extremist group.
On Tuesday the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division said it had liberated east Hama city and destroyed the Islamic State’s largest training facility there.

Syrian Army declares ceasefire near Lebanon border

The Syrian army is pushing ahead as it begins liberating major parts of rebel-held territory near the Lebanese border [Xinhua]
Syria’s national army declared a ceasefire in the Qalamoun district near the border with Lebanon on Sunday following a number of rapid advances into Islamic State-held territory.
The Syrian army and its Hezbollah affiliate militias have for weeks been engaged in an offensive in this mountainous area of the border.
In the meantime, the Lebanese army has also been defeating IS forces on its side of the border near the town of Ras Baalbak.

Russia, US agree to Syria ceasefire amid Putin-Trump meeting

Both Putin and Trump wanted to extend their first meeting beyond the 140 minutes, US officials have said on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany [PPIO]
It was meant to last for half an hour but the first face-to-face meaning between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump last for more than two hours.
In a much anticipated meeting which US media had speculated would be a charged, high-stakes face-to-face, the two leaders exchanged pleasantries as if they were two old friends trying to work out a difference between them.

Suspected US coalition air strike kills dozens in Syria – report

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that a number of refugees were killed during the air raid allegedly carried out by US-led coalition forces in a Syrian town near the Iraqi border [Xinhua]
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says the death toll from a suspected US-led coalition air strike near the Iraqi border has risen to 42 and will likely continue to rise.
On Tuesday, SOHR said that 11 children and 6 women were among the fatalities in the border town of Al Bokamal.
It said the fatality list included at least 14 Iraqi refugees.