Syrian Opposition

The United States has a window to facilitate an orderly transition in Syria without deploying military force. But the window is narrowing — and the Obama administration will need to adjust its political strategy to succeed. Diplomatically, the administration has focused on engaging the U.N. Security Council and the Friends of Syria, a French-created group of 88 participating states, seven international organizations and one observer (the Vatican). But the Security Council remains in stalemate by Russian and Chinese vetoes, and the...

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly "strongly" condemned the Syrian government Wednesday for its "indiscriminate" shelling and bombing of civilians and "widespread and systematic" human rights violations in a conflict that has dragged on for more than two years and left more than 70,000 people dead. The resolution, co-sponsored by most Arab and Western governments, was adopted by a vote of 107 to 12, with 59 abstentions. The United States backed the resolution and Russia opposed it, putting them on...

Searching for any sign of splintering in Syria's ruling class, the United States has tracked what it suspects is the transfer of millions of dollars in foreign accounts by elites with ties to President Bashar al-Assad. But the flow of money is murky. U.S. intelligence officials said they cannot estimate the total amount and are still trying to assess what the transfers mean: Is Assad's inner circle starting to fray, or are wealthy Syrians simply hedging their bets? The struggle to make sense of the...

BEIRUT — Syria's main opposition bloc wants to consult its allies before deciding on joining a U.S.-Russia initiative to negotiate a peaceful transition in Syria, its leader said Monday. The U.S. and Russia called last week for an international conference to start talks that would be accompanied by a cease-fire. The two nations are on opposite sides of the Syria conflict, and this marks their first serious joint attempt at Syria diplomacy in a year. The time, venue and agenda of...

MOSCOW — Russia's unwillingness to endorse a U.N. resolution calling for the ouster of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad arises from domestic, international, commercial and military calculations, analysts agree, but underlying all of them is the Kremlin's belief that Russia would have nothing to gain from Assad's departure. Even if he steps down in the end, the thinking goes, sticking by him now may not exact that much of a cost. Syria is an important customer for Russian armaments and hosts a recently reopened Russian...

ANTALYA, Turkey — For nearly three months, protesters in Syria have repeatedly braved bullets to take to the streets, first demanding reforms and then the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. On Wednesday, the movement to transform Syria appeared to take a critical step forward in an unlikely spot: With this sunny beach resort town as a backdrop, about 300 Assad opponents gathered at a hotel to try to give structure and voice to a movement that has been leaderless and disparate.

AMMAN, Jordan — Libya on Wednesday recognized Syria's opposition National Council as the country's legitimate authority, as tens of thousands of Syrians rallied in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the northern city of Aleppo and Assad's troops pressed an ongoing offensive to crush the seven-month-old uprising against his rule. The opposition council has pledged to seek international protection to stop civilian deaths and has called for the uprising to remain peaceful. "We ask other countries ...

CAIRO — The top financer of the Syrian opposition is no Arabian Peninsula oil kingdom or cloak-and-dagger Western spy outfit, but struggling, war-ravaged Libya, which is itself recovering from a devastating civil conflict . According to a budget released by the Syrian National Council and posted to its Web site late Sunday, the Libyan government contributed $20.3 million of the $40.4 million that the opposition umbrella group has amassed since...

DOHA, Qatar — Fractious Syrian opposition groups finally struck a deal Sunday to form a new umbrella organization after a week of heated negotiations that were nearly derailed on several occasions. The new organization, called the National Coalition for Revolutionary Forces and the Syrian Opposition, is intended to act as the single entity that manages the political and military affairs of the opposition and as the conduit for humanitarian and military aid. At the end of October, Secretary of State Hillary...

BEIRUT — Two leading factions of Syria's political opposition moved toward forming a coalition by agreeing on a blueprint for a democratic transition of power, a step hailed and condemned by their deeply divided members. The accord by the leaders of the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the National Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change (NCC) rejects foreign intervention in Syria but calls for the protection of civilians by all legitimate means, according to a statement on the NCC's Web site.

BEIRUT — Russia defended its sales of anti-aircraft systems to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, just days after joining forces with the U.S. for a new push to end Syria's civil war through negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided saying whether those sales included advanced S-300 batteries. Israel has asked Russia to cancel what it said was the imminent sale of the S-300 missiles, portrayed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as destabilizing to...

WASHINGTON — The White House says that Syria's future cannot include President Bashar Assad. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the U.S. views Syria's future as being a post-Assad future. But he says it's up to the Syrian opposition to decide which elements of Assad's regime could be included in a transitional government. Carney was asked to clarify the U.S. position a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. and Russia would convene a conference...

MOSCOW — Russia, US say they'll try to push Syrian regime, opposition into political transition talks. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Speaking in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Israeli military officials seconded British and French claims that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebels: It was the most direct and public claim by Israel to date that Syria has resorted to chemical weapons, which would be a troubling escalation of a brutal civil war that has stretched on for more than two years. Coming less than a week after France and Britain made similar assertions to the United Nations, the remarks add...

SYRIA Opposition calls on Hezbollah to stay out The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country, as activists said government troops supported by gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of villages near the ­Lebanon-Syria border. Outside the Syrian capital, ­Damascus, activists said they had documented the names of 80 people killed in a government assault on the area over the past five days.

BEIRUT — Kidnappings of ordinary Syrians are rising at an alarming rate, a stark sign of the spreading lawlessness in their country after two years of war. Both the Syrian opposition and government security forces have been accused of abducting people, often for sectarian or political motives . But in recent months, kidnapping for ransom has increasingly become a criminal enterprise, observers say. "People are taken just for the money...

ANTALYA, Turkey — A group of mostly exiled Syrian opposition figures on Thursday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hinted that the United States is preparing to take a tougher stance against Damascus, escalating pressure on the Syrian government as it presses ahead with its brutal crackdown against protesters. In Washington, Clinton came closer than ever before to calling for Assad's ouster and indicated that only China and Russia were preventing stronger action...

BEIRUT — More than 10,000 protesters poured onto the streets of Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo, on Friday, a sign that a city that had remained relatively quiet as an uprising swept the country has been galvanized into activity. The northern city's large university was the focus of a similar demonstration Thursday, when crowds of students greeted a team of U.N. observers , dancing on the tops of the visitors' cars and waving the flag of the protest movement from the rooftops.

ISTANBUL — Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Sunday that the United States would push to expedite delivery of new U.S. nonlethal military assistance to Syrian opposition fighters, including body armor and additional communications equipment. "I'm going to press to make sure this is a matter of weeks. It has to happen quickly; it has to have an impact," Kerry said at a news conference after marathon meetings over the weekend to unify the rebel movement and its international backers.

AMMAN, Jordan — The United States and Jordan have stepped up training of Syrian opposition forces that may be used to establish a buffer zone along Syria's southern border, according to U.S. and Jordanian officials. Training begun last year has been expanded and accelerated after rebel gains in the south, including capture of a stretch of the Jordanian-Syrian border near the Golan Heights , two military outposts and the country's main border crossing with Jordan. Jordanian security officials said...