Bodies of Marie Colvin, Remi Ochlik arrive in Paris

The bodies of veteran war reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik arrived in Paris from Syria on Sunday, ten days after they were killed in a rocket attack in the rebel Baba Amr neighbourhood of the besieged city of Homs. By Shona BHATTACHARYYA (video)News Wires (text) AFP - The bodies of American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, killed in the bombardment of a rebel flashpoint in Syria last week, were flown into Paris from Damascus Sunday Learn more

Syria rebels leave besieged Baba Amr district of Homs

The Syrian rebel force fighting government troops in the besieged city of Homs says most of its fighters have left the Baba Amr district in a "tactical" withdrawal. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) said it was pulling out of Baba Amr to spare the lives of the 4,000 civilians who were refusing to leave their homes. Baba Amr has been under heavy bombardment for nearly a month. Syrian government forces say they now have full control of the district. The head of the FSA, Col Riyad al-Assad, said gover Learn more

Move over, Egypt, Iraq and Syria

By Aaron David Miller March 1, 2012 For the better part of the last century, three Arab states — Egypt, Iraq and Syria — dominated Middle East politics in matters of war and peacemaking and shaped the region's relations with the great powers. The kings of Jordan and Morocco — and, of course, Saudi Arabia (and the Persian Gulf states) when it came to oil — had their say too. But it was the three pseudo-republics, authoritarian military regimes really, that threw their collective Learn more

Syria’s main opposition forms military council

Syria’s main opposition group formed a military council Thursday to organize and unify all armed resistance to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as the conflict veered ever closer to civil war. The Paris-based leadership of the Syrian National Council said its plan was coordinated with the most potent armed opposition force – the Free Syrian Army – made up mainly of army defectors. “The revolution started peacefully and kept up its peaceful nature for months, but the reality today i Learn more