Special to WorldTribune.com Russia’s withdrawal from Syria “should not be taken at face value,” a former senior Israeli military official said. While President Valdimir Putin announced the pullout earlier this week, Moscow has decided to maintain major combat platforms in Syria, including the S-400 air and missile defense system. “We should remember the difference between […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Russian counterpart Valdimir Putin that Israel will not allow Iran and Hizbullah to operate on the Israel-Syria border. The two met in Moscow on March 16 after Putin announced Russia’s withdrawal from Syria. Rivlin laid out Israel’s “red lines” in Syria, telling Putin the presence of any […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The world should not turn a blind eye to the plight of Christians in Syria and the increasing number of human rights violations in Iran, rights groups and religious leaders in the region say. Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, said on March 16 that two-thirds of Syria’s Christians have left […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A Syrian rebel who was shown on video participating in the brutal execution of captured Assad regime soldiers has been arrested in Sweden. Haisam Omar Sakhanh was arrested on March 11 in the town of Karlskoga. Swedish authorities charged him with a crime against international law. Details of the mass execution of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Anti-Assad regime rebels, jihadists and activists received a huge morale boost with the surprise withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria. Moscow’s move is also seen by the opposition as a major blow for the Damascus regime. “Our morale is sky high. The regime will not be able to survive alone,” said Raed al-Elewi, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The U.S. House overwhelmingly condemned as genocide the atrocities committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant extremist group (ISIL) against Christians, Yazidis, and other groups in Iraq and Syria. The 393-0 vote on March 14 came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry considers […]
Special to WorldTribune.com After the surprise announcement of its intent to withdraw from Syria, Russia on March 15 sought to reassure Israel that the two countries’ coordination on Syria would remain intact. Israel wants assurances that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s anti-Israel allies Iran and Hizbullah would continue to be restrained after Moscow’s pullout. “We will […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Sol W. Sanders Among the many anomalies of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy, none appear so anachronistic as its refusal to label the persecution and annihilation of Christians in the Middle East as genocide. Granted that the term has been too often thrown around carelessly, used incorrectly as a synonym for […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov, in comments to Ren-TV on March 13, said Moscow has evidence that Ankara has sent troops to Syria and is conducing a “creeping expansion” on the border with Syria. Related: Erdogan denies reports Turkey is secretly collaborating with […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) forces female captives to use contraception to ensure they do not become pregnant and can be passed among jihadists as sex slaves. The New York Times, which interviewed more than three dozen Yazidi women who escaped from the terror organization, cited a gynecologist who examined […]