Syrian People

President Obama and European leaders called Thursday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign, after months of his violent crackdown on protesters. The rhetorical escalation was backed by new U.S. sanctions designed to undermine Assad's ability to finance his military operation. "The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way," Obama said in a written statement. "For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside.

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...

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...

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's opposition took the country's seat for the first time at an Arab summit Tuesday in a diplomatic triumph marred by divisions in the ranks of the Western-backed alliance. The opposition's rise to representation of Syria at the summit in Qatar, a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad's foes, showed the extent of the Syrian government's isolation two years into a civil war that the United Nations says has killed an estimated 70,000 people. In Damascus, the government denounced the Arab League's...

ANTAKYA, Turkey — Hiba Alhaji's flight from Syria was sparked when she was summoned for interrogation after she encouraged her university students to join protests against the government. Her inquisitors never realized that the trunk of her car parked outside was full of guns she was running for the rebels. Afraid it was just a matter of time before she was found out, Alhaji says, she left Aleppo the next day for Turkey, where she founded the Free Syrian Women Organization.

TEHRAN— Under the motto "No to violence, yes to democracy," an estimated 200 Syrian and regional politicians gathered in Tehran on Sunday to discuss a possible end to the violence that has engulfed Syria since March 2011. "We believe reforms in Syria should lead to a free, fair and transparent election with the cooperation of all political parties," Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, said in opening remarks at the one-day Syrian National Dialogue conference. Iran continues to back Syrian President Bashar...

The March 15 editorial " Syria's bloody anniversary " correctly identified the heightened national security threat that has developed as the Syrian crisis, which began as a peaceful pro-democracy movement, spirals further into violent conflict. Two years into this conflict, a number of countries aside from Russia continue to provide the Assad regime with the weapons, fuel, finance and political cover it needs for President Bashar al-Assad to continue his bloody assaults. While influence on Russia has proved...

Syria's civil war went off­line Thursday as millions of people tracking the conflict over YouTube, Facebook and other high-tech services found themselves struggling against an unnerving national shutdown of the Internet. The communications shutdown immediately evoked memories of similar action by Libya's Moammar Gaddafi and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, and it sparked fears that President Bashar al-Assad could be preparing to take even harsher action against Syrian opposition forces, which have...

UNITED NATIONS — The emir of Qatar called on Arab nations Tuesday to form a political and military coalition to intervene in Syria to stop the bloodshed there, posing a direct challenge to U.N. efforts to resolve the conflict through negotiations. "We have used all available means to get Syria out of the cycle of killing, but that was in vain," the emir, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. "In view of this, I think it is...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the escalation of Syrian government attacks on opposition protesters and said she would voice American concerns at a U.N. Security Council meeting on the subject Tuesday. The intensified diplomacy came amid ongoing fighting between government and opposition forces on the outskirts of Damascus. In skirmishes throughout Monday, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad appeared to have pushed back rebel soldiers...

The March 15 editorial " Syria's bloody anniversary " correctly identified the heightened national security threat that has developed as the Syrian crisis, which began as a peaceful pro-democracy movement, spirals further into violent conflict. Two years into this conflict, a number of countries aside from Russia continue to provide the Assad regime with the weapons, fuel, finance and political cover it needs for President Bashar al-Assad to continue his bloody assaults. While influence on Russia has proved ineffective, the...

MUNICH — A top Syrian opposition leader's offer to engage in talks with the Syrian government drew praise Saturday from both the United States and Russia, bringing a rare moment of unity to the contentious global debate on the country's future. Syrian opposition chief Mouaz al-Khatib met separately Saturday with Vice President Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of a security conference here, a day after Khatib reiterated his readiness to hold talks with Syrian...

John Kerry's first task as secretary of state should be to develop a coherent policy for Syria, where U.S. sanctions are proving counterproductive, the fighting around Damascus is deadlocked, the economy is in ruins and the country is headed toward a sectarian breakup. This grim prognosis for Syria is based on the latest reports provided to the State Department by opposition forces working with the Free Syrian Army . The military situation in Damascus is described as a stalemate.

IT MIGHT seem as though the horrors of Syria, where more than 60,000 people have died violently in the last 22 months, could not grow worse. Yet steadily, week by week, they do. One measure is the refu­gee flows : In the past month more than 30,000 people have fled to neighboring Jordan alone, threatening to overwhelm an already unstable monarchy. More than 200,000 Syrians are now in Lebanon , 150,000 in Turkey and 75,000 in Iraq , according to the United Nations.

ANTAKYA, Turkey — Hiba Alhaji's flight from Syria was sparked when she was summoned for interrogation after she encouraged her university students to join protests against the government. Her inquisitors never realized that the trunk of her car parked outside was full of guns she was running for the rebels. Afraid it was just a matter of time before she was found out, Alhaji says, she left Aleppo the next day for Turkey, where she founded the Free Syrian Women Organization.

SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad delivered a speech Sunday that had the virtue, at least, of offering clarity. No, he insisted, he would not step down. He would not negotiate with the rebels who control much of the countryside and parts of major cities. He would not consider the compromise "transition" proposal being pedaled by a U.N. envoy with the backing of his ally Russia, as well as the United States. Instead, he said, he would fight to the end against "enemies of God and puppets of the West.

ANTAKYA, Turkey — An international envoy held talks Monday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but apparently failed to achieve a breakthrough on ending the country's escalating civil war. Lakhdar Brahimi, tasked by the United Nations and the Arab League with negotiating an end to the nearly two-year-old war, reportedly carried a proposal to create a new government, though not immediately. "The situation in Syria still is a reason for worry," Brahimi told reporters after the meeting in Damascus.

The Obama administration on Thursday accused Iran of assisting Syria's government in its brutal crackdown on demonstrators, listing names of Iranian security officials that the White House says helped train and arm Syrian police to attack peaceful protesters. Sanctions unveiled by the Treasury Department identified Iran's national police force and a pair of senior Iranian officials, one of whom allegedly traveled to Damascus in April to offer expertise on dealing with the country's protest movement , White House documents...

BEIRUT — In a rare public appearance Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dashed hopes that a negotiated settlement to the nation's civil war would be feasible anytime soon, delivering a speech in which he offered no hint that he is prepared to surrender power, negotiate with his opponents or halt his crackdown on armed rebels. The uncompromising stand suggests the conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed at least 60,000 lives , is likely to continue to rage unchecked, despite signs that Assad's army is losing...

MOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister declared a deadlock Saturday in the latest efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis , blaming the Syrian opposition for refusing to negotiate with the government and reiterating that Moscow will not force President Bashar al-Assad to leave. Sergei Lavrov met here earlier with Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, and though both men warned that the conflict poses an increasing danger to the entire Middle East, they offered no hope of a...