Archive: syria
The Syrian uprising entered its fourth week on Friday. Information about events on the ground remains sketchy, largely due to government restrictions on the media and the fact that protests are scattered across the country. But let's look at the broader picture and what it might mean for the Assad… Read more
The "reforms" promised by Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, got under way on Wednesday with two measures obviously designed to placate religious elements.
One was the rescinding of a rule introduced only last July which had banned female teachers from wearing the niqab, or… Read more
The Syrian uprising appears to be growing but, as with Tunisia last December, it is getting relatively little coverage – especially in comparison with Libya. Libya has no great strategic importance, though of course foreign forces are involved and the events there are the sort that TV companies… Read more
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last January, President Assad of Syria talked about reform. Not reform under pressure but reform with "conviction", as he put it.
"If you did not see the need for reform before what happened in Egypt and in Tunisia," he said, "it is too late to do… Read more
The video above shows protesters in Deraa attacking a statue of the former Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad. The scene is highly evocative of Firdous Square in Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled (with the aid of US troops) in 2003. Indeed, the wobbling statue of Assad is… Read more
Today, for the first time, there have been signs of real stirrings against the regime in Syria.
It's worth recalling that just over a month ago, when a "day of rage" was called by opposition members in exile, the only significant presence on the streets was that of the security… Read more
Syria and the International Atomic Energy Authority seem to have reached an impasse over nuclear inspections. According to a report this week, Syria is refusing access "to numerous suspect sites and has provided scant or inconsistent information about its atomic activities".
The problems… Read more
Salam Kawakibi, of the Arab Reform Initiative and the University of Amsterdam, has produced two interesting papers about Syria: one on the media, the other on the internet.
The Private Media in Syria gives a brief history of the official media under the Baathist regime then looks in… Read more
The French parliament's vote to ban the niqab has aroused international controversy. Meanwhile, Syria's attempt to ban the niqab in schools has attracted less attention. The Economist saysabout 1,200 teachers are affected and some of them have been transferred to other jobs… Read more
Writing in the Saudi-owned paper, as-Sharq al-Awsat, Hussein Shobokshi discusses the recent visit to Syria by senior figures from leading American IT companies: Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems and Symantec.
He points out that the ability of these companies to do business in Syria… Read more