02/10/12: JURIST reports that the UN Support Mission in Libya on Thursday welcomed the new electoral law adopted by the National Transitional Council. The draft of the electoral law was finalized on Wednesday after the earlier version was revised to address criticisms of the public. The new law sets out procedures for the upcoming election to choose a national assembly. After elected, its responsibility will be to draft a new constitution for the country. The finalized law provides that 20 percent of the 200 seats (40 seats) will be reserved for women, double of what was proposed in the earlier version.

02/10/12: The New York Times reports that the king of Saudi Arabia inserted himself directly into the Syria crisis on Friday, castigating Russia and China for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution over the weekend aimed at ending the Syrian government’s deadly repression of a nearly year-old uprising. “We are going through scary days and unfortunately what happened at the United Nations is absolutely regrettable,” King Abdullah said in a short nationally televised address. The Saudi king rarely speaks so publicly and bluntly, and his remarks appeared to reflect new concern in Saudi Arabia about the deepening sectarian parameters of the conflict in Syria.

02/10/12: The Denver Post reports that Israel says it has successfully tested an upgraded radar for the Arrow missile defense system, developed with the United States and designed to intercept projectiles that might be fired at the Jewish state from Iran. Defense official Yair Ramati says the test was conducted on Friday in conjunction with the US Missile Defense Agency. He said a Blue Sparrow 2 missile was fired west to east from "deep within the Mediterranean" but he would not say how far from Israel it was fired or what sort of threat it was designed to simulate. A defense ministry statement says the Blue Sparrow was "representative of potential ballistic missile threats facing Israel."

02/10/12: The New York Times reports that the case against one of the eighteen remaining Afghans at Guantanamo started gaining new attention after a military defense team began investigating it last year. The team talked to village elders, neighbors and family members who corroborated crucial aspects of the benign explanations offered by Obaydullah, and they concluded that certain intelligence about him had been “mischaracterized.” “With new evidence that brings into question the allegations against him, we hope we will be able to obtain a fair hearing, or that he will be sent home,” said Maj. Derek A. Poteet of the Marines, a military lawyer representing Obaydullah.

02/10/12: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Turkey and Iran, regional heavyweights and heirs to imperial pasts, expanded trade in the past decade and papered over their traditional rivalry with diplomacy and rhetoric. Now these neighbors have staked out opposing positions in Syria, where outside players seek to sway an outcome to the bloodshed that could, in turn, alter power balances in the Middle East. Iranian-Turkish tension could grow if regional efforts to end the violence intensify as expected after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

02/10/12: CNN reports that a human rights group expressed alarm Thursday at the pace of executions in Iraq and called for Iraqi authorities to abolish the practice. In a statement, Human Rights Watch noted that Iraq has executed at least 65 prisoners since the year began 40 days ago. Fifty-one of the executions occurred in January and 14 so far this month, it said. "The Iraqi government seems to have given state executioners the green light to execute at will," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government needs to declare an immediate moratorium on all executions and begin an overhaul of its flawed criminal justice system."

02/09/12: CNN reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was apparently coached on how to describe his government's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrators just days before his appearance on an American network, according to purported e-mails of Syrian officials released by the hacking group known as Anonymous. The purported e-mails of dozens of Syrian officials as well as their account passwords were released Sunday by Anonymous hackers, who claim to have attacked the webmail server of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

02/09/12: The Miami Herald reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday claimed that an airstrike carried out by the international coalition killed eight children in eastern Afghanistan. The Afghan leader said in a statement that he has assigned a delegation of high-ranking officials and lawmakers to launch a comprehensive probe into the affair. Also Thursday, Karzai's office said it has extended by one month the deadline for the transfer of the main American military prison in the country. It said the United States had until March 9 to transfer authority of the prison to the Afghan government.

02/09/12: The Hill reports that the TSA is expanding its known-traveler program to the "busiest US airports." The program allows passengers to volunteer information in exchange for the possibility of receiving expedited screening. According to TSA Administrator John Pistole, the expansion moves the agency "closer to our goal of delivering the most effective and efficient screening by recognizing that most passengers do not pose a threat to security. “We are pleased to expand this important effort . . . as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system,” Pistole said.

02/09/12: The Seattle Times reports that the head of the Arab League plans to send observers back into Syria and has raised the possibility of a joint mission with the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday. The UN chief's comments to reporters - after he briefed a closed UN Security Council session - came amid a search for new diplomatic approaches to deal with the protracted violence in Syria. Ban said he spoke Tuesday with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby, who "intends to send the Arab League observer mission back to Syria and ask for UN help."

02/09/12: The Washington Post reports that a former US Marine sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly spying for the CIA could be saved if the Obama administration would consider a prisoner swap, his Iranian attorney said Wednesday. Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, who was sentenced in January to be hanged, could face execution immediately after an appeals court has reviewed his sentence, said lawyer Mohammad Hossein Aghassi. The court’s decision was expected January 25; the reason for the delay is unclear. Aghassi stressed that it was essential for the Obama administration to do anything within its means to reach out to Iran.

02/08/12: The Miami Herald reports that Britain would struggle to mount another operation on the scale of its intervention in Libya because of massive defense cuts, a report from UK lawmakers said Wednesday. The Defense Committee report said the intervention in Libya, which led to the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi, was successful and justified but has raised "important questions" about the extent of the UK military's capabilities. "The real test is whether the success of this mission was a one-off or whether the lessons it has highlighted mean that future such missions can be successfully undertaken, whilst maintaining the UK's capability to protect its interests elsewhere," said committee Chairman James Arbuthnot.

02/08/12: The Washington Times reports that American Green Berets, SEALS and other commandos will continue to meet their commitments around the world, as the Pentagon imposes budget cuts, the commander of US Special Operations said Tuesday. One of the top priorities will be helping regular combat forces withdraw from Afghanistan, where the US will draw down its conventional troop numbers down to 68,000 by October, Admiral Bill McRaven told a Washington audience. The Pentagon will rely more heavily on its special operation forces there to stabilize the region before the total US withdrawal by 2014, he said.

02/08/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that after five years of legislative struggling, 23 stopgap measures and a two-week shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, Congress finally has passed a bill aimed at prodding the nation's aviation system into a new high-tech era in which satellites are central to air traffic control and piloted planes share the skies with unmanned drones. The bill, which passed the Senate 75-20 Monday, speeds the nation's switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology. It also requires the FAA to open US skies to drone flights within four years. 

02/08/12: The Charlotte Observer reports that with $1.3 billion in annual US military aid and a three-decade relationship hanging in the balance, US officials said Tuesday that Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would travel to Egypt to press for the criminal charges against at least 16 American nonprofit workers to be dropped. The visit later this week by the top US military official likely represents the strongest leverage the United States has in its effort to get Egypt's ruling generals to end a crackdown on American and Egyptian nonprofit groups. 

02/08/12: The Sacramento Bee reports that nearly three dozen Cuban asylum seekers were confined to the Leeward side of the US Navy base at Guantanamo Tuesday, no longer able to send packages to family across the minefield in a security crackdown at the US migrant center at the base in southeast Cuba. Officials wouldn't say precisely how the Cubans lost privileges of wider access on the base. But "several of the migrants repeatedly broke Naval Station rules in place to ensure base security," said Deborah Sisbarro at the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The infractions occurred "in the last several weeks," she said.

02/07/12: The Washington Post reports that Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that a Syrian commission has prepared a new constitution, to be voted on in a referendum, and added that President Bashar al-Assad is ready for a “dialogue” with opposition groups after months of a harsh and bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov made the statements following discussions with Assad in the Syrian capital, even as France and Italy recalled their ambassadors for consultations over the worsening crisis and shelling continued for a fifth day in the restive city of Homs.

02/07/12: The New York Times reports that less than two months after American troops left, the State Department is preparing to slash by as much as half the enormous diplomatic presence it had planned for Iraq, a sharp sign of declining American influence in the country. Officials in Baghdad and Washington said that Ambassador James F. Jeffrey and other senior State Department officials are reconsidering the size and scope of the embassy, where the staff has swelled to nearly 16,000 people, mostly contractors. The expansive diplomatic operation and the $750 million embassy building, the largest of its kind in the world, were billed as necessary to nurture a postwar Iraq on its shaky path to democracy and establish normal relations between two countries linked by blood and mutual suspicion.

02/07/12: The Miami Herald reports that the US and Japan, hoping to break a stalemate over the US military presence on Okinawa, are discussing a plan to transfer nearly 5,000 troops to Guam despite their failure to replace a major Marine base on the southern Japan island. The transfer, a key to US troop restructuring in the Pacific, has been in limbo for years because it was linked to the closure and replacement of the strategically important base, which has been fiercely opposed by local residents. "We are not at a point where we can discuss the details, but we are looking into ways to reduce the burden on Okinawa as soon as possible," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told Parliament on Tuesday.

02/07/12: The New York Times reports that a senior American military commander is expected to travel to Pakistan this month in what Obama administration officials say is the first step toward thawing a strategic relationship that has been in effect frozen for more than two months. General James N. Mattis, the head of the military’s Central Command, will meet General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani Army chief of staff, to discuss the investigations of an exchange of fire at the Afghan border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, as well as new border coordination procedures to prevent a recurrence of the episode.

02/07/12: The Washington Post reports that when Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta introduced the Obama administration’s new strategic guidance he made his first point that the military will be smaller and leaner, but it will be agile, flexible, rapidly deployable and technologically advanced. The Obama administration has moved into the era of satellites and drones for intelligence and stand-off air attacks (Libya). If ground forces are needed, local, allied or United Nations troops can be used, some with the help of US Special Forces teams for training or direction (Central African Republic). To go it alone, drones (Pakistan, Yemen), and again those Special Forces (Pakistan for Osama bin Laden, January’s Somalia rescue). 

02/07/12: Bloomberg News reports that an Egyptian military delegation visiting Washington canceled talks with US Senators because the group was called home amid a dispute over charges against American pro-democracy workers, according to Senate aides. The generals were scheduled to meet as soon as yesterday with Senators including Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, and John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the panel, according to two Senate aides familiar with the cancellation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.

02/07/12: The Washington Times reports that the Pentagon on Monday launched a new campaign. The Defense Department (@DeptofDefense) held its first Twitter town hall, and the nearly hour-long session addressed questions from “don’t ask, don’t tell” to the Middle East to cyber security. “. . . important to discuss national security matters with American public, service members . . .” Pentagon press secretary George Little, or @PentagonPresSec, tweeted. On Syria, Mr. Little first tweeted: “@13monsters asks about Libya v. Syria. Each difficult situation, but approaches to dealing with crises must be case-by-case.”

02/07/12: The San Jose Mercury News reports that an Italian appeals court has overturned the terrorism conviction of a Tunisian man who had spent nearly eight years in the US military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. Mohamed Ben Riadh Nasri, who had been convicted of terrorism association by a lower Italian court, was one of three Tunisian prisoners from Guantanamo that Italy accepted more than two years ago. Nasri's lawyer, Roberto Novellino, said the appeals court in Milan on Monday threw out the guilty verdict and its six-year sentence, meaning his client is a free man. The court's reasoning will be released in 30 days.

02/06/12: The Washington Post reports that the State Department closed its embassy in Syria on Monday and pulled the remaining staff. The decision came after the Syrian government refused to address US security concerns amid the 10-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, State Department officials said. Ambassador Robert Ford and 16 other employees have left the country. The United States has shuttered embassies before, often under similarly dramatic circumstances. While some embassies later reopened, several countries remain without an US embassy today.

02/06/12: BBC News reports that Chinese state-run media have defended Beijing's veto of a UN resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on anti-government protesters. China's top newspapers said the Western push for a regime change in Syria was erroneous, citing previous campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The US earlier described as a "travesty" the veto by China and Russia of the UN resolution over the weekend. In Syria, government troops have continued attacks on the city of Homs. Mortar bombs were falling steadily - about a minute apart - on Sunday, the BBC's Paul Wood in the central Syrian city reports.

02/05/12: The Miami Herald reports that by bluntly using its veto power to block a UN resolution urging Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, Russia has shown a willingness to defy the West at a scale rarely seen since the Cold War times. The price Russia will have to pay in international condemnation of its action clearly doesn't seem excessive to the Russian leaders. The Kremlin even may hope to reap some dividends both at home and abroad by coming to Assad's defense. With Russia's presidential election just a month away, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appears eager to stand up to the US by protecting a longtime ally.

02/04/12: CNN reports that as international anger grows over reports of mass carnage at the hands of the Syrian regime, a UN Security Council draft resolution condemning Syria failed to be adopted Saturday after veto-wielding members Russia and China voted against it. Earlier, President Obama urged the Security Council to pass the resolution Saturday aimed at stopping the bloody crackdown that has consumed the Arab nation. Thirteen Security Council members, including permanent members France, United Kingdom, and the United States, voted in favor of the resolution.

02/03/12: Reuters reports that Russia's deputy foreign minister says his country "cannot support" a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria. According to the Interfax news agency, Gennady Gatilov said that despite changes that took some of its concerns into account, Russia could not support the text in its current form. "This is not enough for us," he said. The resolution, drafted by European and Arab countries, endorses an Arab League plan for Syria. That league's plan calls on Mr Assad to hand over power to a deputy to oversee a political transition.

02/02/12: The Washington Post reports that the United States and its European and Arab partners have agreed to drop a demand to impose UN sanctions and a voluntary arms embargo on Damascus, in exchange for a commitment from Russia to allow adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that paves the way for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure from power. The latest offer permits Syria to continue buying weapons from Russia, its closest ally, to bolster its position.

02/02/12: The BBC reports that diplomats at the United Nations Security Council have said progress has been made in discussions over a resolution on the crisis in Syria. Western nations have been pushing for the Security Council to endorse an Arab League peace plan. Russia has been critical of the Arab plan, but its ambassador also said Wednesday's session had been positive. "I think we have a much better understanding of what we need to do to reach consensus," Vitaly Churkin said.

02/01/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that some of the Arab League observers tasked with monitoring whether Syria had stopped its bloody crackdown on protesters “thought that their visit to Syria was for pleasure,” according to a report leaked to Foreign Policy magazine. The report, purportedly signed by the chief who oversaw the monitors, laid out a number of problems that prevented the observers from being effective, from health problems to inexperience to “personal agendas,” according to the document posted by reporter Colum Lynch.

01/31/12: The Associated Press reports that Western and Arab diplomats launched a major offensive at the UN on Tuesday in hopes of overcoming Russia's opposition to a draft resolution demanding that Syrian President Bashar Assad relinquish power. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British and French foreign ministers were traveling to New York for the afternoon Security Council session on the situation in Syria. It was unclear if the high-level push would succeed.

01/30/12: The Washington Post reports that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the escalation of Syrian government attacks on opposition protesters, and said she would attend a UN Security Council meeting on the subject Tuesday. The Security Council is due to discuss a proposal by the Arab League that calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside during a political transition, a plan similar to the Arab-backed initiative that eased Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.

01/29/12: The Albany Democrat Herald reports that Russia's defiance of international efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests is rooted in a calculation that it can keep a Mideast presence by propping up its last remaining ally in the region and has nothing to lose if it fails. The Kremlin has put itself in conflict with the West as it shields Assad's regime from United Nations sanctions and continues to provide it with weapons even as others impose arms embargoes.

01/28/12: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Arab League halted its observer mission to Syria on Saturday, sharply criticizing the regime of President Bashar Assad for escalating violence in recent days that has killed at least 80 people across the country. The rising bloodshed has added urgency to new attempts by Arab and Western countries to find a resolution to the 10 months of violence that according to the United Nations has killed at least 5,400 people as Assad seeks to crush persistent protests demanding an end to his rule.

01/27/12: The New York Times reports that violence in Syria has escalated sharply in the past two days, with heavy bloodshed reported Friday in at least three flash points as Arab League monitors expressed exasperation and the United Nations Security Council prepared to discuss the crisis as a step toward a possible resolution condemning President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Syrian rights activists reported government troops attacking targets in the central cities of Homs and Hama and the northern city of Idlib.

01/26/12: Stars and Stripes reports that Russia is standing firm on blocking any UN sanctions against Syria, its longtime ally and a significant arms customer, saying that any resolution by the world body must exclude the possibility of international military involvement such as in Libya. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that UN approval for sanctions against Syria mirroring those by other nations would be "unfair and counterproductive."

01/25/12: Reuters reports that a group of Western and Arab nations are seeking the expulsion of Syria from the UN cultural agency's human rights committee, diplomats said, the latest international effort to isolate Damascus over its violent crackdown on domestic unrest. The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) executive board, which includes the United States, France and Russia, elected Syria to two panels in November, including one that judges human rights violations.

01/25/12: The Financial Times reports that Syria has dismissed an Arab League plan for a government of national unity and scorned Gulf nations for walking out of a peace mission in protest at the behavior of president Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Walid al-Mouallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said on Tuesday that Damascus was immune to international pressure from its enemies and would continue to impose a “security solution” on a 10-month uprising estimated to have left thousands dead.

01/24/12: The Washington Post reports that Syria’s foreign minister on Tuesday shrugged off warnings by the United States that it may close its embassy in Damascus because of inadequate security. “That’s their business,” Walid al-Moualem said at a rare press conference in Damascus when asked about the threatened closure by a reporter from the US-funded al-Hurra TV station. US officials have said they may close the Damascus mission by the end of the month unless Syria responds to requests for greater security at the building, which is located on a busy intersection in the heart of the city, leaving it exposed to potential suicide bombings.

01/24/12: The BBC reports that Syria has rejected an Arab League call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy. The league, meeting in Cairo, urged Syria to form a national unity government with the opposition within two months. A government official called the plan "flagrant interference" in Syria's internal affairs, state TV said.

01/23/12: The New York Times reports that, faced with the failure of its observer mission to curb the violence in Yemen, the Arab League on Sunday unexpectedly floated an ambitious peace proposal that would require President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to a deputy and start negotiations with his opponents within two weeks. The proposal, which appeared to be modeled on the agreement recently signed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, also calls for a government of national unity to be formed within two months, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.

01/21/12: The New York Times reports that the continuing violence in Syria prompted the United States on Friday to warn that it may close its embassy here in the capital unless the Syrian government acts on a request to bolster security around the compound. American officials said that after several recent car bombings in Damascus, the United States, China and Britain had pressed the Syrians to place concrete barriers around their embassies. The United States State Department said that the Syrian government was “considering the request,” and that no decision had been made about closing the embassy.

01/19/12: USA Today reports that Arab League foreign ministers will consider extending the League's observer mission in Syria in a meeting Sunday in Cairo, officials said Thursday. Although the mission expired Thursday, Adnan al-Khudeir, head of Cairo operations room that handles reports by the monitors, told the Associated Press that observers will remain in Syria until a decision is made on Sunday. According to al-Khudeir, the League is ready to send more monitors in short order should the ministers decide to extend the mission of the observers.

01/19/12: CNN reports that the European Union plans new sanctions against Syria, as opposition activists said government troops killed 21 more people in a months-long crackdown. The EU will place restrictions on 22 more individuals and eight more companies starting on Monday, said a source familiar with the decision who asked not to be named, talking about an announcement that had not yet been made. European nations have been pushing for tough measures against Syria, where more than 5,000 people have been killed since demonstrations began in March 2011, according to the United Nations.

01/18/12: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Russia will block any attempt by the West to secure UN support for the use of force against Syria, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia's draft of a UN Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria that circulated Monday was aimed at making it explicitly clear that nothing could justify a foreign military interference. Western diplomats said it fell short of their demand for strong condemnation of Syria's President Bashar Assad's crackdown on civilians, that has left more than 5,000 people dead.

01/17/12: CBC News reports that Syria "absolutely rejects" any plans to send Arab troops into the country, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, even as the death toll mounts from 10 months of violent conflict. The leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, was quoted Sunday as saying Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop the deadly violence. "The Syrian people reject any foreign intervention in its affairs, under any title, and would confront any attempt to infringe upon Syria's sovereignty and the integrity of its territories," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

01/16/12: The San Francisco Examiner reports that a member of Syria's parliament says he has left the country to join the opposition against President Bashar Assad's regime. Imad Ghalioun, who represents the central city of Homs, told Al-Arabiya TV the restive city is "disaster stricken" and has been subjected to sweeping human rights violations. Homs has been one of the most volatile regions in Syria since the uprising against Assad began in March.

01/14/12: The Miami Herald reports that the leader of Qatar has said that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop a deadly crackdown that has claimed the lives of thousands of people over the past 10 months. Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's comments to CBS "60 Minutes," which will be aired Sunday, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria. They come amid growing claims that a team of Arab observers dispatched to the country to curb the bloodshed has failed in its mission.

01/13/12: CBC News reports that the head of the Arab League says that Syria could be headed for civil war, following months of street protests and a violent government crackdown. The Cairo-based group has sent more than 160 monitors to the country to gauge whether the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is complying with the terms of a peace plan that Syria signed last month. Nabil Elaraby said the Assad regime was either not complying or only partially complying with the terms of the peace plan, which was supposed to help bring an end to violence against pro-democracy protesters.

01/10/12: Reuters reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday blamed "foreign planning" for a 10-month-old popular uprising in which thousands of people have been killed and vowed to strike "terrorists with an iron fist." Assad, speaking in public for the first time since June, also said he welcomed the idea of expanding the government to include "all political forces" and held out the prospect of a referendum in March on a new constitution for Syria.

01/09/12: Reuters reports that Arab League monitors are giving Syrian authorities more time to crack down on opponents, opposition figures said on Monday after the League opted to keep the mission in place despite Syria's failure to comply fully with an Arab peace plan. After a meeting in Cairo to review progress, the Arab League said the government had only partly implemented a pledge to stop the repression, free detainees and withdraw troops from cities. It said it would add more monitors to the 165-strong team, ignoring calls to pull the plug on what critics say is a futile effort that provides a fig leaf for Assad to suppress opponents.

01/08/12: CNN reports that Arab League officials met in Cairo on Sunday to discuss their Syria mission amid escalating tension and a growing international outcry over the unrest that has killed thousands. "The option of suspending the monitors' mission is not on the table and the mission will continue as more Arab nations are sending experts to join the mission," the organization said. The head of the group will recommend beefing up the mission, which currently has 165 observers, said Ali Erfan, a senior adviser to the Arab League chief.

01/04/12: The Union Tribune reports that Activists accused the Syrian regime Wednesday of misleading Arab League observers by taking them to areas loyal to the government, changing street signs to confuse them and sending regime supporters into rebellious neighborhoods to give false testimony. The monthlong observer mission, which started December 27, offers a rare outside glimpse into a country where a government crackdown on a 9-month-old uprising has killed more than 5,000 people. But there are fears Assad loyalists have corrupted the observer process beyond repair.

12/31/11:  The Sacramento Bee reports that the UN has stated it is critical that the Syrian government give the Arab League's observer mission unhindered access and its full cooperation as thousands of protesters take to that country's streets to underscore their defiance of the regime. Martin Nesirky, spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, said Friday that the league efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis in Syria are important. Nesirky spoke as a deeply divided Security Council has yet to pass a resolution condemning the violence which the UN says has killed more than 5,000 people.

12/30/11: The New York Times reports that Syrian security forces killed at least five people in Hama on Friday, according to a rights group, as hundreds of thousands of people staged protests across the country that were intended to show visiting Arab League monitors the extent of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. “Five were martyred today and at least 20 wounded when the Syrian security forces opened fire,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The activist groups said at least 250,000 people were on the streets of Idlib after Friday Prayers.

12/28/11: CNN reports that the selection of a Sudanese military commander to head the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria is a "farce" because of his government's actions in the embattled Darfur region, a Syrian opposition group said Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi has been named to chair the monitoring mission, designed to see whether the Bashar al-Assad regime is taking appropriate measures to end more than nine months of civil strife across the country.

12/27/11: The New York Times reports that residents of the Syrian city of Homs said the government pulled some of its tanks from the streets on Tuesday morning, shortly before Arab League observers arrived to monitor pledges by the government to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from residential areas. But sporadic fighting continued on Tuesday morning in Bab Amr, the neighborhood hardest hit by the violence that has left dozens of people dead in recent days, residents said.  Activists said some tanks were still visible.  They claimed others were being hidden. 

12/26/11: BBC News reports that more Arab League observers are due to arrive in Syria as renewed violence hits the central city of Homs. At least 13 people died in gunfire and shelling on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says. Syria's main opposition group has urged observers, arriving as part of a deal to try to end the violence gripping the country, to visit the volatile city. Damascus says it is fighting armed gangs. The clampdown has killed more than 5,000 people, says the UN.

12/22/11: The New York Times reports that delegates from the Arab League traveled to Syria on Thursday to see whether the government of President Bashar al-Assad will keep its promises to withdraw heavy weapons from Syria’s cities and start a dialogue with the government’s opponents. The delegation’s arrival is the first step in a planned deployment of hundreds of outside observers. Meanwhile, human rights activists reported continuing violence in northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border. At least 160 people have been killed over the last four days, activists said, after government troops mounted a large scale attack on defecting soldiers in the area.

12/21/11: The Washington Post reports that the UN Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the UN peacekeeping force along the Israeli-Syrian border, warning that events in the region could impact its operations. The 15-member council renewed the mandate of the more than 1,000-strong force for six months until June 30. The council resolution, co-sponsored by the US and Russia, doesn’t directly mention Syria’s ongoing crackdown on demonstrators demanding an end to President Assad’s regime. But it notes that “evolving conditions in the region could have an impact on the functioning of the force.”

12/20/11: CBS News reports that the UN General Assembly signaled growing international opposition to Syria's crackdown on civilians Monday, voting overwhelmingly to condemn human rights violations by President Bashar Assad's government and calling for an immediate end to violence. The nonbinding resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany, calls on Syrian authorities to implement an Arab League peace plan. It urges withdrawing government tanks from the streets, releasing political prisoners and allowing the entry of international observers into the country.

12/19/11: The Kansas City Star reports that Syria signed an Arab League initiative Monday that will allow Arab observers into the country as part of peace deal that aims to end the nation's increasingly bloody 9-month-old crisis, Syria's foreign minister said. Damascus had previously balked at signing the deal, and the regime's final acceptance of it was likely in response to mounting international pressure on it to end a bloody crackdown that the UN says has killed at least 5,000 people.

12/18/11: Reuters reports that Arab states may take their proposals for ending Syria's crackdown on protests to the UN Security Council next week unless Damascus agrees to implement the initiative, Qatar's foreign minister said on Saturday. Expressing frustration that Syria had not carried out the plan, six weeks after it was first agreed, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said the window for an Arab solution to the crisis was closing. “If this matter is not solved in the weeks ahead, or couple of months, it will no longer be in Arab control," he told journalists after an Arab ministerial committee meeting in Qatar.

12/17/11: The New York Times reports that, frustrated by the Syrian government’s intransigence and the Arab League’s delays in penalizing President Bashar al-Assad, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Syria took to the streets on Friday over the violent repression of their nine-month-old uprising. The demonstrations, reported by rights activists and opposition groups, convulsed several regions as Mr. Assad faced what appeared to be an unexpected source of new diplomatic pressure, from Russia, one of his most loyal allies. On Thursday, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations proposed a surprise Security Council resolution that called on all antagonists in the Syrian conflict to stop the violence and begin negotiations.

12/16/11: Jurist reports that Human Rights Watch said Thursday that Syrian army commanders and officials have ordered troops to attack unarmed protesters in an all-out effort to stop public demonstrations. These allegations are detailed in an 88-page report based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies who describe, in specific detail, how numerous commanders and officials at various levels of the Syrian government ordered attacks against Syrian civilians. As a result of the alleged abuses, HRW has urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, as well as impose sanctions against the 74 officials implicated in the attacks.

12/15/11: CNN reports that pressure is growing for world leaders to respond to Syria's brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests. Earlier this week, the United Nations' Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said more than 5,000 people had been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. The Syrian government has issued activists in the restive city of Homs an ultimatum: Cease their protests, or face bombardment, prompting fears of an increase in hostilities. Human rights activists have called for an international response to the violence -- but some diplomats have warned that any intervention could make the situation worse.

12/13/11: The Express Tribune reports that UN rights chief Navi Pillay gave the latest death toll – amounting to a jump of 1,000 in less than two weeks – as she appealed to the UN Security Council to launch a crimes against humanity case. She told reporters after the meeting that she had given the new toll of more than 5,000 dead – including more than 300 children – and recommended Assad’s crackdown be referred to the International Criminal Court.“The widespread and systematic nature of the killings, the detentions and the acts of torture – I felt that these acts constituted crimes against humanity,” said Pillay.

12/11/11: CNN reports that the Syrian government has warned protesters in the city of Homs that it has a 72-hour deadline to stop demonstrations, hand in weapons and surrender defecting military members -- or face bombardment, Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Hamdo of the opposition Free Syrian Army said Saturday. The deadline would come Monday night. The Syrian National Council, the country's leading opposition movement, had warned earlier of a potential bloodbath at the hands of the Syrian regime in Homs. And Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday described Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a "killer," implicitly comparing him to Libya's ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

12/10/11: The Washington Post reports that at the very moment American troops are pulling out of Iraq, the revolt in neighboring Syria is threatening to disrupt the fragile political consensus that US forces spent most of the past few years striving to uphold. As the Syrian conflict takes on increasingly sectarian dimensions, the crisscrossing rivalries that had been held somewhat in check in recent years among Iraq’s Shiite majority and its Kurdish and Sunni minorities also risk being inflamed. Syria’s sectarian makeup is almost a reverse image of Iraq’s, with a minority, Shiite-affiliated Alawite regime confronting a protest movement drawn largely from the country’s Sunni majority.

12/10/11: Reuters reports that the UN Security Council agreed on Friday to France's request for a briefing on Syria's rights crackdown from the UN human rights chief, overcoming resistance from Russia, China and Brazil, Western envoys said. Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, president of the Security Council this month, said Navi Pillay's closed-door briefing would probably take place on Monday. He dismissed suggestions from Western envoys that Russia had opposed the briefing, although he acknowledged Moscow and others had reservations.

12/09/11: The Washington Post reports that the International Committee of the Red Cross has suspended efforts to monitor treatment of detainees inside Syria because of difficulties working with the regime, ending one of the few independent efforts to investigate allegations of violence and torture inside the country.The decision by the Geneva-based organization came amid new reports of sabotage near the restive city of Homs, including what opposition groups described as a successful attack on a major oil pipeline near the city.

12/06/11:CBS News reports that the Obama administration is sending Ambassador Robert Ford back to Damascus after a six week hiatus amid concerns for his safety. The US envoy to Syria was recalled in October after the State Department accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching a "smear campaign" against Ford. He drew wrath from the government for his visits with opposition figures and his convoy was recently pelted with tomatoes.

12/06/11: The Telegraph reports that Secretary Hillary Clinton will travel to Geneva later today to meet Syrian opposition leaders in a gesture of support for the group following an eight-month crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad. Clinton is expected to speak with seven opposition members, where she is to give a speech on human rights. It will be her second meeting with opposition members in six months, following a similar gathering in Washington in July.

12/04/11: CBS News reports that Syria said Sunday it is still negotiating with the Arab League over the bloc's request to send observers into the country, as tightening sanctions by Arab and other nations fail to halt the eight-month crackdown on anti-government protesters. New violence killed at least six people on Sunday, including a female university professor and a father and his three children in central Syria, opposition activists said. Arab leaders have given Syria a new deadline of Sunday to respond to the League's peace plan.

11/28/11: CNN reports that Syrian security forces have committed "gross violations of human rights" since anti-government protests began in March, a United Nations report released Monday said. The UN independent international commission on Syria's assessment was based on interviews with 223 victims and witnesses, but observers were not allowed access to the country, the report said. According to the report, evidence "documents patterns of summary execution, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, including sexual violence, as well as violations of children's rights."

11/27/11: The Associated Press reports that the Arab League overwhelmingly approved sanctions Sunday against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent, an unprecedented move by the League against an Arab state. Before the vote, Damascus slammed the vote as a betrayal of Arab solidarity. Besides punishing an already ailing economy, the sanctions are a huge blow for a Syrian regime that considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

11/24/11: JURIST reports that the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee on Tuesday approved a draft resolution condemning recent human rights violations in Syria, taking the first step towards bringing the matter before the Security Council. The non-binding resolution, drafted by the UK, France and Germany, passed by a vote of 122-13, with 41 abstentions. The resolution "strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the persecution and killing of protesters and human rights defenders, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill treatment of detainees, including children."

11/22/11: The Boston Globe reports that attacks by army defectors are transforming the Syrian uprising into an armed insurgency that threatens to spiral into civil war. The Free Syrian Army holds no territory, appears largely disorganized and is up against a fiercely loyal and cohesive military that will stop at nothing to protect the regime. Still, without foreign military intervention or significant cracks in President Bashar Assad’s iron rule, the rebel group has emerged as the best hope for a growing number of protesters who have all but given up on peaceful resistance.

11/20/11: CNN reports that officials sparred Sunday over a proposed plan to send observers into Syria as the nation's president warned against military intervention. In an interview with the Sunday Times in the United Kingdom, President Bashar al-Assad warned that any potential military intervention against his country would lead to "very dire" repercussions, and said that Syria "will not bow down" despite international threats of economic sanctions over the government's crackdown on protesters.

11/19/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that Opposition activists said Syrian security forces killed at least 17 people Friday as President Bashar Assad's government faced an Arab League deadline of Saturday for implementing a faltering peace plan. Demonstrators across Syria chanted antigovernment slogans and called on foreign nations to expel Syrian ambassadors, a move that would further isolate Assad.

11/18/11: The Telegraph reports that France's foreign minister Alain Juppe said the time has come to increase sanctions against the Syrian regime, but ruled out military intervention to end eight months of violence against protestors. "The situation is no longer sustainable," Alain Juppe told reporters during an official visit to Ankara. "It is not normal that the [United Nations] Security Council has not made any decision so far," he said. "I hope those blocking any resolution will be aware of the reality of the situation."

11/17/11: The New York Times reports that in what amounted to a surprise reprieve, the Arab League offered to send civilian and military monitors to Syria on Wednesday to determine whether it was abiding by a league-brokered peace plan to end the crackdown on the country’s eight-month uprising. The move countered the league’s startling decision five days earlier to suspend Syria. In a meeting of foreign ministers here in the Moroccan capital, the league offered Syria a new deadline of three days to accept the plan, which calls for the government to withdraw its troops from cities and stop firing on protesters.

11/14/11: The New York Times reports that the Syrian foreign minister said on Monday that an Arab League decision to suspend his country was “an extremely dangerous step” and apologized for a series of attacks on foreign embassies in the country over the weekend. Walid al-Moallem, speaking at a televised press conference in Damascus, said that Syria had withdrawn its armed troops from urban areas, released political prisoners and offered pardons to militants under the terms of a proposed Arab League peace plan.

11/14/11: The Bellingham Herald reports that a US treasury official claims economic sanctions on Syria, coupled with steps by countries in the region, will hasten the ouster of Bashar Assad's regime. Daniel Glaser, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary, briefed Jordanian government officials and banking executives on the US and EU sanctions against Assad's government. The sanctions were imposed as pressure on Assad to stop his brutal crackdown on dissent.

11/12/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Arab League voted Saturday to suspend Syria in four days and warned it could face sanctions if it does not end its bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters. The decision was a symbolic blow to a nation that prides itself on being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism. Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 18 countries agreed to the suspension, which will take effect on Wednesday. Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against it, and Iraq abstained. The Arab League also will introduce political and economic sanctions against Syria, he said.

11/08/11: CNN reports that more than 3,500 Syrians have been killed since the government crackdown on protesters started in the country in mid-March, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday. "We are deeply concerned about the situation and by the government's failure to take heed of international and regional calls for an end to the bloodshed," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement. "Since Syria signed the peace plan sponsored by the League of Arab States last week, more than 60 people are reported to have been killed by military and security forces."

11/07/11: The New York Times reports that the Syrian government has launched a bloody assault to retake Homs, the country’s third-largest city, ignoring the relatively muted protests of the international community and facing armed defectors who have so far prevented the government’s forces from seizing it as they did other restive locales this summer. The strife there comes amid the apparent collapse of mediation by the Arab League, more signs of the government’s intention to stanch dissent by force.

11/06/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that Syria's government called on citizens carrying arms to turn in themselves and their arms within a week, dealing a new setback to a plan brokered by Arab leaders this week to end Syria's deadly crisis. Damascus's request came as 21 people were killed in protests Friday, two days after President Bashar al-Assad's regime agreed to a deal that included an immediate withdrawal of forces from cities. The call for civilians to disarm suggests President Assad won't pull out his forces until his government finishes fighting its opponents.

11/03/11: The Chicago Tribune reports that Syrian security forces killed five people in the city of Homs on Thursday, activists and a resident said, a day after the government agreed to pull the military out of cities as part of an Arab League initiative to end unrest. After seven months of street protests demanding the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, and a nascent armed insurgency against his rule, Syria agreed on Wednesday to an Arab League plan to withdraw the army from cities, release political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition.

11/01/11: The Chicago Tribune reports that Algeria's Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said on Tuesday an Arab League committee charged with seeking an end to the violence in Syria had reached agreement with Syrian authorities, Al Arabiya television reported. Al Arabiya gave no further details. Syrian officials contacted by telephone had no immediate comment on the report. Algerian and Egyptian diplomats in Cairo, where Arab League foreign ministers are due to meet on Wednesday, said they had no information as to whether an agreement had been reached.

10/30/11: The Sunday Telegraph reports that, in his first interview with a Western journalist since Syria’s seven-month uprising began, President Assad told the paper that intervention against his regime could cause "another Afghanistan."  Western countries "are going to ratchet up the pressure, definitely," he said. "But Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different. Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake … Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?

10/29/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that political violence killed at least 40 people across Syria on Friday, antigovernment activists said, as protesters took to the streets demanding a "no fly" zone to protect civilians seeking the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Protests after Friday's midday Muslim prayers have become a weekly occurrence in Syria since mid-March, when the demonstration movement began. The theme set by organizers of Friday's protests was a call for the imposition of a no-fly zone, like that used against former Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

10/29/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that a US company that makes Internet-blocking gear acknowledges that Syria has been using at least 13 of its devices to censor Web activity there—an admission that comes as the Syrian government cracks down on its citizens and silences their online activities. Blue Coat Systems Inc. of Sunnyvale, California, says it shipped the Internet "filtering" devices to Dubai late last year, believing they were destined for a department of the Iraqi government. However, the devices—which can block websites or record when people visit them—made their way to Syria, a country subject to strict US trade embargoes.

10/26/11: The New York Times reports that a Syrian opposition group called on Tuesday for international protection from the government’s military crackdown on protesters, a day before an Arab delegation was scheduled to arrive in Syria in an effort to resolve seven months of unrest in the country. The delegation of Arab ministers, led by the prime minister of Qatar, is expected to meet Wednesday with President Bashar al-Assad and other top officials in Damascus, the Syrian capital, to discuss the possibility of starting a dialogue between the government and opposition forces.

10/24/11: The New York Times reports that Robert S. Ford, the American ambassador to Damascus who has played a high-profile role in Syria since the uprising began there this year, has left the country after receiving “credible threats against his personal safety,” embassy officials said on Monday. The departure was the latest turn in the tumultuous tenure of Mr. Ford, whose visits to restive cities like Hama and attendance at a funeral for a slain activist have made him a visible figure in Syria.

10/23/11: ABC News reports that US Senator John McCain said Sunday that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO's air campaign in Libya is ending. However, President Barack Obama's administration has made clear it has no appetite for military intervention in Syria — a close ally of Iran that sits on Israel's border — and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted Sunday that the Syrian opposition has not called for such action as President Bashar Assad's regime.

10/11/11: CNN reports that international powers put more heat on Syria's government Tuesday, as a new umbrella opposition group gained key backers in the Arab world and China exhorted the government to respond to people's "reasonable" demands. The developments come amid a seven-month government crackdown against protesters, an ongoing operation that has stirred condemnation across the world. The UN estimates that 2,900 people have been killed. Activist groups have said the toll exceeds 3,000.

10/10/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that Syria's foreign minister warned other nations Sunday not to bestow international legitimacy on a new opposition umbrella group that seeks to expedite the ouster of embattled President Bashir Assad. Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, speaking in Damascus, the capital, vowed unspecified "tough measures" against any country that recognizes what he termed the "illegitimate" Syrian National Council.

10/06/2011: The New York Times reports that the death toll from the anti-government uprising in Syria has risen to more than 2,900 since the protests began in March, the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday. Rupert Colville, a spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, said the new total was "based on our detailed list of individual names that we have been keeping."

10/05/11: The Miami Herald reports that European countries criticized Russia and China on Wednesday for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn't halt its crackdown on civilians. Turkey's prime minister said his nation and others would respond by imposing more sanctions of their own against Syria.

10/04/11: CNN reports that another round of violence flared in turbulent Syria on Tuesday, as reports of more deaths surfaced amid the relentless government crackdown against protesters.  The nearly seven-month-long offensive has drawn world condemnation and calls to action against the government of Bashar al-Assad.

10/04/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that the Syrian government on Monday accused what it called terrorist attackers of killing the son of a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric and said it had discovered a large number of weapons near the Turkish border.  The developments come as a wave of what appear to be targeted assassinations and intense urban battles — some reportedly involving army defectors who have taken up arms against the government — is raising the prospect of sectarian strife and even civil war.

10/02/11: CBC reports that Syrian dissidents meeting in Turkey have formally announced the creation of a council designed to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime.  A group of Syrian opposition activists had announced the creation of the Syrian National Council last month.  The structure and aims of the council were announced Sunday at a news conference in Istanbul.  Opposition figure Burhan Ghalioun read out its founding statement, which was signed by major Syrian opposition figures.

09/28/11: The Daily American reports that the UN Security Council is trying again to reach agreement on a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, but members remain deeply divided over sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime. The Europeans and Russians have revised their rival texts which the council is expected to discuss Wednesday afternoon. The new European draft resolution — circulated Tuesday by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal — drops the demand for immediate sanctions in an attempt to win greater support in the Security Council.

09/24/11: IntelDaily reports that the Syrian Justice and Information Ministers, Tayseer Qala Awwad and Adnan Hassan Mahmoud, have been banned from entering the EU countries, while their assets in Europe are being blocked. The move is part of the fresh sanctions against Syria that came into force earlier this Saturday. Yesterday, the EU Council approved the seventh package of sanctions against the authorities of Syria, which is swept by antigovernment protests.

09/21/11: The Hindustan Times reports that President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for UN Security Council sanctions on Syria, saying there was no excuse for inaction when people were being tortured and murdered by their government. “For the sake of Syria — and the peace and security of the world — we must speak with one voice. Now is the time for the United Nations Security Council to sanction the Syrian regime, and to stand with the Syrian people,” Obama told the United Nations General Assembly.

09/20/11: The Irish Times reports that the United Nations human rights office has found that Syrian security forces have killed 2,700 anti-government protesters, including at least 100 children, since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad started in March. Kyung-wha Kang, deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said her office was prepared to send its confidential list of 50 suspects linked to alleged crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court, if the Security Council referred the situation in Syria to the Hague-based court.

09/20/11: The New York Times reports that the Obama administration has begun to make plans for American policy in the region after President Bashar al-Assad of Syria leaves power. In coordination with Turkey, the United States has been exploring how to deal with the possibility of a civil war among Syria’s Alawite, Druse, Christian and Sunni sects, a conflict that could quickly ignite other tensions in an already volatile region.

08/19/11: JURIST reports that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court to investigate the violent suppression of anti-government protests. Pillay's remarks came after the Fact-finding Mission in Syria published its 22-page report concluding that Syrian government forces cracking down on the opposition may be committing crimes against humanity. Pillay said, however, that she is not optimistic that the Security Council will act.

08/19/11: The Washington Post reports that President Obama and European leaders called Thursday for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign, but there was no sign Friday that he was ending his violent crackdown on protests, as Syrian troops again opened fired on demonstrators emerging from mosques. Obama’s rhetorical escalation was backed by new US sanctions designed to undermine Assad’s ability to finance his military operation. In Syria, Assad showed no indication that he was heeding the growing pressure on Friday, the day that the biggest anti-government protests typically occur following midday Muslim prayers. Nor was there any apparent move to make good on his assurance on Wednesday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that military operations were over.

08/10/11: The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration slapped sanctions Wednesday on Syria’s largest commercial bank and cellphone operator as it moved to demand the end of four decades of dictatorship under the Assad family. The Treasury Department added the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and its Lebanon-based subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, to its sanctions list, citing their links to human rights abuses and to illegal weapons trade with North Korea. Mobile phone company Syriatel was targeted because it is controlled by “one of the regime’s most corrupt insiders,” said David Cohen, the department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

08/05/11: The Guardian reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Syrian government has killed more than 2,000 people in its attempts to crush the protests against it and has lost all legitimacy. She told a press conference that the US was extending sanctions, including against a prominent businessman and MP it said had close ties to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad and his brother, and believed that and moves such as a statement from the UN security council on Wednesday condemning the regime could turn the screw.

08/01/11: The BBC reports that Syrian troops backed by tanks have renewed attacks on the city of Hama on the second day of a crackdown on anti-government protesters, activists say. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation. Activists say about 130 people died across the country on Sunday, making it one of the bloodiest days since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in mid-March.

07/31/11: The Washington Post reports that President Barack Obama is stepping up his criticism of Syria’s crackdown on protesters, charging that the Syrian president is “completely incapable and unwilling” to respond to what Obama calls the legitimate grievances of the Syrian people. Dozens of people were reported killed Sunday as Syrian security forces escalated their response to protests against President Bashar Assad. In the city of Hama, a barrage of shelling and gunfire left bodies scattered in the streets.

07/07/11: The BBC reports that Syria has accused the US of "interfering" in its affairs after the US ambassador to the country travelled to the flashpoint city of Hama. The Syrian foreign ministry said the visit by Robert Ford was "obvious proof" of US involvement in continuing protests in the country. Earlier, the US State Department said Mr Ford's visit was to show solidarity with protesters.

07/02/11: The Guardian reports that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has sacked the governor of the city of Hama where 200,000 people took to the streets to protest against his regime. State TV announced the removal of the governor on Saturday. Although the report gave no reason or detail for his sacking, video footage showed the huge crowds of protesters in a central square of the provincial capital calling for an end to Assad's rule. "The Syrian president signed a decree today relieving Doctor Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz of his post as governor of Hama," the state-run Sana news agency announced.

06/20/11: The New York Times reports that the Obama administration, seeking new ways to force the Syrian leadership to halt its violent crackdown on domestic dissent, is examining whether war crimes charges can be brought against President Bashar al-Assad. Senior administration officials said the effort was part of a broader government campaign to increase pressure on the Syrian leader as his security forces continue to kill and wound protesters.

05/29/11: The Washington Post reports that US officials say Iran is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers — including members of its elite Quds Force — into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple Iran’s most important ally in the region. The influx of Iranian manpower is adding to a steady stream of aid from Tehran that includes not only weapons and riot gear but also sophisticated surveillance equipment that is helping Syrian authorities track down opponents through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, the sources said. Iranian-assisted computer surveillance is believed to have led to the arrests of hundreds of Syrians seized from their homes in recent weeks.

05/22/11: The Washington Post reports that for weeks, Syrian democracy activists have used Facebook and Twitter to promote a wave of bold demonstrations. Now, the Syrian government and its supporters are striking back with their own social-media offensive. Mysterious intruders have scrawled pro-government messages on dissidents’ Facebook pages. Facebook pages have popped up offering cyber tools to attack the opposition. The Twitter #Syria hashtag — which had carried accounts of the protests — has been deluged with automated messages bearing scenes of nature and old sports scores.

05/18/11: CNN reports that President Barack Obama has imposed tough sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior Syrian officials in an effort to stop the regime's fierce crackdown on protests, the US Treasury Department said. The Treasury Department also targeted two top Iranian officials whose unit was a "conduit for Iranian material support" to Syrian intelligence.

05/18/11: The Washington Post reports that Syria’s president said the country’s security forces have made mistakes during the uprising against his regime, blaming poorly trained police officers at least in part for a crackdown that has killed more than 850 people over the past two months. President Bashar Assad’s comments, carried Wednesday in the private Al-Watan newspaper, marked a rare acknowledgment of shortcomings within Syria’s powerful security agencies. Assad said thousands of police officers were receiving new training.

05/17/11: The Guardian reports that thirteen bodies have been retrieved from a mass grave in Deraa, the hub of Syria's protest movement, according to residents cited by human rights organisations. People from the southern city say hundreds are unaccounted for since a crackdown on protests began on 18 March and intensified when the army moved in on 25 April to try to quash unrest against Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.

05/16/11: The Financial Times reports that Nick Harvey, Britain’s armed forces minister, said it was “highly likely” that the International Criminal Court would seek the arrest of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, over his role in the violent crackdown on protesters. Mr Harvey’s comments came after the ICC announced it would be seeking the arrest of Muammer Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, along with his son and intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity.

05/16/11: The Miami Herald reports that the White House is blaming Syria for inciting deadly protests across its border and into the Israeli-held Golan Heights. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday such behavior on the part of Syria is unacceptable. He said it was intended to draw attention from the Syrian government's violent crackdown on its own people who are pushing for reforms.

05/13/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that Syrian security forces conducted detentions across at least six cities Thursday that activists said appeared to focus on not only opposition activists but lawyers, doctors, intellectuals and educated professionals. The stepped-up detentions came as residents reported continued gunfire in restive southern areas, in what activists said appeared to show resolve by President Bashar al-Assad's government to eliminate and silence dissent ahead of planned demonstrations for Friday.

05/11/11: The Washington Post reports that European countries summoned Syrian ambassadors Wednesday to threaten a new round of sanctions that will target the country’s leadership if it doesn’t halt the repression of protesters. As Europe stepped up the pressure on Damascus, UN chief Ban Ki-moon demanded full access for humanitarian workers in Syria, which has blocked an international team from entering to make an independent assessment of the country’s aid needs.

05/09/11: BBC reports that hundreds of Syrian troops stormed the Damascus suburb of Saqba overnight - breaking into houses and arresting about 300 people, witnesses say. Tanks and troops are also reported to have been sent to other trouble spots, amid fresh reports of anti-government demonstrations in Homs and Hama. More than 500 Syrians are thought to have been killed since the protests started seven weeks ago. At least 2,500 others have been detained, although rights groups say the figure could be much higher.

05/08/11: CBS News reports that the White House is welcoming the European Union's decision to sanction Syrian officials for cracking down on anti-government protesters. An EU official said the organization next week will freeze the assets of 13 Syrian government officials and ban them from traveling anywhere in the European Union. Syrian President Bashar Assad will not be affected. Last week, President Barack Obama imposed financial penalties against three top Syrian officials, Syria's intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard over the violent crackdown on demonstrators in Syria.

05/05/11: The Financial Times reports that Hillary Clinton has warned the Syrian government that it would face the “consequences” of its crackdown on protests and welcomed moves by the European Union to join Washington in imposing sanctions. Last week, Washington imposed sanctions against Syria’s intelligence agency and two relatives of president Bashar al-Assad. A senior US official said then that the Syrian president could also be named if the violence continued.

05/03/11: The Washington Post reports that the potential collapse of the Syrian regime could wreak havoc on the country and the region. In Syria, the fall of President Bashar al-Assad would unleash a cataclysm of chaos, sectarian strife and extremism that spreads far beyond its borders, threatening not only the entrenched rulers already battling to hold at bay a clamor for democratic change but also the entire balance of power in the volatile region, analysts and experts say.

04/29/11: The Washington Post reports that tens of thousands of Syrians defied a bloody government crackdown on Friday and took to the streets in towns and cities across the country, responding to calls from democracy activists to stage a “Day of Rage” to protest the military’s efforts to crush the burgeoning opposition movement. In Washington, President Obama signed an executive order Friday imposing new sanctions on officials and entities held responsible for human rights abuses in Syria, the White House announced.

04/27/11: The Washington Post reports that the United States has evidence of active Iranian support for the Syrian government’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, US Ambassador Susan Rice said late Tuesday. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it almost impossible to verify the dramatic events. Witnesses say the crackdown by President Bashar Assad has intensified since Friday, with the death toll topping 350. Rice did not elaborate on the Iranian involvement.

04/26/11: JURIST reports that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called Monday for Syria to immediately halt the killings and violence against civilian protesters. In addition to the halt, Pillay has called for a full investigation into the recent deaths with hopes to serve justice against those ordering the shootings. The investigation is supported by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

04/25/11: CNN reports that the US is preparing new sanctions against members of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in response to the violent crackdown against protesters. A new Treasury Department executive order targeting senior officials accused of human rights abuses would involve an asset freeze and travel ban, as well as prohibiting them them from doing business in the United States. The move comes as the Obama administration weighs its options on how to step up pressure against the al-Assad regime. There have been numerous reports of deadly violence over the past several days.

04/24/11: The Washington Post reports that two Syrian lawmakers and a state-appointed Muslim leader resigned Saturday in a gesture of protest a day after security forces killed more than 100 people in the bloodiest crackdown since anti-government demonstrations began in Syria in mid-March. The resignations came as security forces fired on tens of thousands of people in at least three towns who were attending funerals for protesters killed Friday.

04/22/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that Syrian security forces moved forcefully in an attempt to disperse protests before they gained momentum Friday, in some places by shooting at potential protesters and using tear gas to break up groups heading to mosques for prayers. The conclusion of Friday religious services, attended by millions of Muslims around the region, has marked the starting point for weekly demonstrations across the region.

04/20/11: The Washington Post reports that Syrian authorities arrested a leftist opposition figure at his home during an overnight raid, hours after the government announced an end to nearly 50 years of emergency rule. Syrian Human Rights League chief, Abdul-Karim Rihawi, said security agents picked up Mahmoud Issa from his home after an interview he gave to Al-Jazeera satellite TV late Tuesday. He said his “arbitrary arrest is in line with the state of emergency rule” and said he expected him to be released after President Assad signs the decree formally abolishing the emergency rule.

04/18/11: CNN reports that Syrian security forces killed as many as 24 people over the past two days in areas where anti-government protests have been under way, an opposition source said Monday. Some of the victims were killed in Talbisa when security forces fired on mourners at a funeral Sunday. Forces also raided homes and shot people on the streets in Talbisa, said Wissam Tarif, a rights activist who is outside the country and in communication with sources inside the country.

04/18/11: JURIST reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday announced in a televised speech that he will lift emergency laws that have been in place for 48 years. For the past four weeks, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets each Friday, demanding, in part, that the emergency laws be revoked. The law will be formally lifted next week, he said.

04/15/11: The Miami Herald reports that thousands of people chanting "Freedom!" held protests in several Syrian cities Friday, demanding far greater reforms than the limited concessions offered by President Bashar Assad over the past four weeks, according to witnesses. The largest protest was in the southern city of Daraa, with about 10,000 people turning out in a city that has become the epicenter of the protest movement.

04/11/11: The Washington Post reports that violent protests continued to roil Syria on Sunday as human rights activists reported that President Bashar al-Assad was using soldiers and tanks for the first time against demonstrators and sealing off the port city of Baniyas. Yesterday, four people were killed in the seaport north of Tartous as security forces and rooftop snipers opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators outside the Al-Rahman mosque, according to human rights workers who have been in touch with residents. 

04/03/11: The Australian reports that Syrian President Bashar Assad last night asked former agriculture minister Adel Safar to form a new government. Mr. Safar's appointment came after Mr. Assad fired his cabinet in a bid to quell pro-democracy protests, but dashed hopes he would lift almost 50 years of emergency rule in a rare address. Mobile phone and internet networks failed yesterday in Syria "due to an overload," according to a customer representative, a day after authorities had carried out a wave of arrests in protest cities.

04/01/11: The Boston Globe reports that two Americans detained at the outbreak of political unrest in Syria were released Friday after two weeks in custody. Both Americans -- a Vermont college student studying Arabic in Syria and an engineer from Austin, Texas, who had been working in the country -- were arrested while taking photographs of demonstrations on March 18, according to Syrian state media.

03/29/11: BBC reports that the Syrian cabinet has resigned, according to Syrian state-run television. President Bashar al-Assad accepted the cabinet's resignation following a meeting on Tuesday. The resignation is the latest concession by the government aimed at appeasing more than a week of mass protests. President Assad is to address the nation in the next 24 hours to announce he is lifting the emergency law and remove restrictions on civil liberties.

03/28/11: The Washington Post reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, facing the gravest crisis in his 11-year rule, deployed the army Sunday for the first time in nearly two weeks of protests after 12 people were killed in the northwest port of Latakia. Dozens have died in pro-democracy protests in the southern city of Deraa and nearby Sanamein, Latakia, Damascus and other towns over the last week. The government blames armed groups for setting off the bloodshed.

03/27/11: The Miami Herald reports that Syrian authorities have detained two Americans, Mohammed Radwan and Pathik Root, amid an unprecedented wave of protests in the repressive Middle East nation. Syrian government television has been blaming foreigners, among others, for the unrest that began more than a week ago.

03/25/11: The New York Times reports that violence erupted around Syria on Friday as troops opened fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed on the tense streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years. Soldiers shot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country's late president, Hafez Assad. Heavy gunfire could be heard in the city center and witnesses reported several casualties.

Thread: Political Protests and Government Crackdown in Syria / International Response

02/06/12: The Boston Globe reports that Iran's state TV reports that the country's navy has opened fire on pirates to foil an attack on an Iranian oil tanker near the Gulf of Aden. The late Sunday report says the Iranian navy rushed to the site earlier in the day after it received a distress signal from the tanker, which was under attack from some 35 pirate boats. The report says the pirate boats fled after the Iranian forces opened fire. It did not report any casualties. Iranian vessels are part of an international flotilla of warships that patrols the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea, to protect shipping from Somalia-based pirates.