Syria says sanctions have cost country $4 billion ALBERT AJI and BEN HUBBARD Published: Today A U.N. observer takes pictures of a military bus that was damaged by a roadside bomb, at al-Bahdaliyah area, near Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful calls for reform, but the government's brutal crackdown on dissent led many in the opposition to take up arms. The U.N. estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed as the conflict spirals toward civil war. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi) DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's oil minister acknowledged the heavy toll international sanctions have taken on the country's oil sector, saying Wednesday that they had sucked about $4 billion from the economy.Sufian Allaw said the sanctions ... Continue reading →

Explosive standoff in Beirut kills 2 HUSSEIN MALLA Published: 26 minutes ago A Lebanese army soldier, fires his weapon on the apartment balcony of a Syrian gunman who had engaged in an hours-long shootout with security forces, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 24, 2012. Security officials say troops stormed an apartment in west Beirut, killing a Syrian gunman. The officials say the gunman first shot at the troops on the street in Caracas neighborhood, then fled to his apartment, which the soldiers stormed early Thursday. The body of another man was found in the apartment but it's unclear how he died. several soldiers and policemen were also wounded in the gun battle which caused panic among residents in the area. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BEIRUT (AP) ... Continue reading →

Syria says sanctions have cost country $4 billion ALBERT AJI and BEN HUBBARD Published: Today A U.N. observer takes pictures of a military bus that was damaged by a roadside bomb, at al-Bahdaliyah area, near Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful calls for reform, but the government's brutal crackdown on dissent led many in the opposition to take up arms. The U.N. estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed as the conflict spirals toward civil war. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi) DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's oil minister acknowledged the heavy toll international sanctions have taken on the country's oil sector, saying Wednesday that they had sucked about $4 billion from the economy.Sufian Allaw said the sanctions ... Continue reading →

Syria says sanctions have cost country $4 billion ALBERT AJI and BEN HUBBARD Published: Today A U.N. observer takes pictures of a military bus that was damaged by a roadside bomb, at al-Bahdaliyah area, near Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful calls for reform, but the government's brutal crackdown on dissent led many in the opposition to take up arms. The U.N. estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed as the conflict spirals toward civil war. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi) DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's oil minister acknowledged the heavy toll international sanctions have taken on the country's oil sector, saying Wednesday that they had sucked about $4 billion from the economy.Sufian Allaw said the sanctions ... Continue reading →

Bomb kills 5 in Syrian capital BASSEM MROUE Published: 27 minutes ago Masked Sunni gunmen hold their weapons as they attend the funeral procession of anti-Syrian regime Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid, who was shot at a Lebanese army checkpoint, at his hometown village of Beireh, in Akkar, north Lebanon, Monday May 21, 2012. The circumstances surrounding Sunday's shooting death of Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid and his bodyguard remained unclear but the state-run National News Agency said they appeared to have been killed by soldiers after their convoy failed to stop at an army checkpoint. The cleric's funeral was scheduled for later Monday in the northern region of Akkar. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BEIRUT (AP) - Activists and state media say a bomb has exploded ... Continue reading →

Bomb kills 5 in Syrian capital BASSEM MROUE Published: 27 minutes ago Masked Sunni gunmen hold their weapons as they attend the funeral procession of anti-Syrian regime Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid, who was shot at a Lebanese army checkpoint, at his hometown village of Beireh, in Akkar, north Lebanon, Monday May 21, 2012. The circumstances surrounding Sunday's shooting death of Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid and his bodyguard remained unclear but the state-run National News Agency said they appeared to have been killed by soldiers after their convoy failed to stop at an army checkpoint. The cleric's funeral was scheduled for later Monday in the northern region of Akkar. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BEIRUT (AP) - Activists and state media say a bomb has exploded ... Continue reading →

UN: Monitors alone cannot end Syria bloodshed ALBERT AJI and ZEINA KARAM Published: 59 minutes ago FILE - In this Monday, June 20, 2011 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, at Damascus University. In his first interview in six months, Syrian President Bashar Assad insists his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries and not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a year-long uprising. (AP Photo/SANA, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - The head of a U.N. observer team in Syria cautioned Friday that the mission cannot achieve a permanent end to the violence without genuine talks between the two sides that have been locked in a violent conflict ... Continue reading →

Syrian opposition faces fractures, infighting ZEINA KARAM Published: Today FILE - In this Monday, June 20, 2011 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, at Damascus University. In his first interview in six months, Syrian President Bashar Assad insists his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries and not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a year-long uprising. (AP Photo/SANA, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY BEIRUT (AP) - A key activist group threatened Thursday to withdraw from Syria's main opposition umbrella grouping, saying the council has drifted away from the spirit of the Syrian revolution.A pullout by the Local Coordination Committees from the Syrian National Council would be a blow for the group, ... Continue reading →