Beirut, May 6 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Syria reserves the right to defend itself by all possible methods, the country's deputy foreign minister said in the wake of Israeli air strikes on the capital Damascus. Israel carried out late Saturday and early Sunday what an intelligence official said were air strikes on a shipment of Iranian-made missiles bound for Hezbollah militants in neighbouring Lebanon.
Beirut, May 5 (IANS) The Lebanese Hezbollah's political council has said the group stands ready to engage in the fight to prevent Syria's collapse as well as being controlled by Israel and the US, a media report said. Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, head of the council, said the reason behind being involved in the Syrian crisis was that "we do not accept Syria being under control of this (Israeli-US) axis", Xinhua reported.
Beirut, May 1 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Militants in Syria have used chemical weapons against civilians with the aim of discrediting forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, Syrian state-run TV said Tuesday. "Terrorists gathered together residents of the city of Saraqib at the city's southern gates and released a powder of unknown origin amongst them, causing asphyxiation, tremors and other breathing problems," an official said. Those injured by the chemicals had been taken to hospitals in Turkey to use the incident as the basis for accusing government forces of using chemical weapons, the official added.
Beirut, April 29 (IANS) The number of Syrian refugees who fled the turmoil in their country to Lebanon have soared to over 444,000, the UN Higher Council for Refugees (UNHCR) has said. Lebanon is facing mounting difficulties in dealing with the growing number of refugees fleeing Syria's unrest.
Beirut, April 26 (IANS) Over 60 students were hospitalised in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli after drinking contaminated tap water, state-run National News Agency (NNA) said. The students, all below 12 years of age, were taken to a hospital after suffering from pain in the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhoea and breathing difficulty.
Beirut, April 24 (IANS/AKI) Two Orthodox bishops who were kidnapped by gunmen in Syria's northern city of Aleppo have been freed, the Zenit.org website said. A number of senior diplomats and international officials were involved in negotiations to release the two bishops, including the Greek ambassador to Syria, UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Beirut, April 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Syrian authorities have called the European Union's decision to allow the import of Syrian oil and its derivatives through exclusive transactions with rebels an "illegal" move and "an act of aggression". The EU Council Monday eased the 2011 oil embargo on Syria, allowing EU member countries to buy oil from rebel-controlled areas of the country and invest in the energy sector in those regions. In two letters addressed to the UN Security Council president and the UN secretary general, Syria's foreign and expatriates ministry said that the EU had resorted to a new step that contradicts the principle of non-interference approved by the UN Charter and international law
Beirut, April 20 (IANS) About 428, 000 Syrian refugees have fled their war-torn country to Lebanon, the UN Higher Refugees Council (UNHRC) has said in its latest report. These refugees are being given aid by the UN agencies and Lebanese government, it adds.
Beirut, April 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Syrian Airlines plane carrying more than 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the victims of the ongoing conflict in Syria has landed in Damascus, the Russian embassy in Damascus said Sunday. The aid was collected in Russia by the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society, based in St. Petersburg, March 22-April 10.
Beirut, April 7 (IANS) Human Rights Watch has urged the UAE not to deport 19 Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka because they would be at serious risk of torture and persecution upon return.
