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	<title>WorldCategory: Syria &#124; World &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>WorldCategory: Syria &#124; World &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Hizballah Chief Says Group is Fighting in Syria</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/25/hizballah-chief-says-group-is-fighting-in-syria/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/25/hizballah-chief-says-group-is-fighting-in-syria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 16:34:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Bassem Mroue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87702</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — The leader of Lebanon&#8217;s Hizballah says his Shiite militant group will not stand idly by while its chief ally Syria is under attack. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says Hizballah members are fighting in Syria against Islamic extremists who pose a danger to Lebanon. Nasrallah&#8217;s comments Saturday marked the first time he has publically confirmed his men were fighting in Syria. They are also his first since Hizballah fighters have become deeply involved in the battle for of the central Syrian town of Qusair. He said tens of thousands of Islamic extremists from all over the world have been sent to Syria to fight the regime, but Hizballah sends &#8220;a few&#8221; fighters and it is accused of intervening in the conflict. MORE: The Belgian Teen Now Fighting in Syria<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87702&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Russia: Syrian Regime May Take Part in Peace Talks</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/russia-syrian-regime-may-take-part-in-peace-talks/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/russia-syrian-regime-may-take-part-in-peace-talks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 10:54:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / BASSEM MROUE</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87604</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) &#8212; The Syrian government has agreed &#8220;in principle&#8221; to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the Arab country&#8217;s conflict, Russia&#8217;s foreign ministry said Friday. It was the first confirmation that President Bashar Assad&#8216;s government would be willing to take part in the talks with the opposition. (MORE: Syria Government to Take Part in Peace Conference) But despite the announcement from Moscow, one of Assad&#8217;s staunchest allies, Damascus has not offered any definitive statement on the proposed talks. Russia and the U.S. joined efforts earlier this month to convene an international conference to bring representatives of Assad&#8217;s regime and the opposition to the negotiating table. The aim of the talks would be to establish the outlines of a transitional government as a way out of the crisis. More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war. The U.S.-Russian plan, similar to the one set out last year in Geneva, calls for talks on a transitional government and an open-ended cease-fire. The Moscow announcement came after days of talks there between Syria&#8217;s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad and Russian officials. Russia&#8217;s Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks Friday that the Syrian government has &#8220;agreed in principle&#8221; to participate in the conference in Geneva, which is expected within two weeks. &#8220;We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from the Syrian government in Damascus to participate in the international conference, in the interest of Syrians themselves, to find a political solution,&#8221; Lukashevich said. He added, however, that it is impossible to set the date for the conference at this point because there is &#8220;no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have.&#8221; Lukashevich also said Moscow &#8220;was not encouraged&#8221; by the results of recent meetings of members of the Syrian National Coalition, the country&#8217;s main opposition group that has called on Assad to step<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87604&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/510544409.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syria</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>The Shadow War Behind Syria&#8217;s Rebellion: Foreign Backers Jockey for Influence in Turkey</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/the-shadow-war-behind-syrias-rebellion-foreign-backers-jockey-for-influence-in-turkey/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/the-shadow-war-behind-syrias-rebellion-foreign-backers-jockey-for-influence-in-turkey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 09:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rania Abouzeid / Istanbul</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87256</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While the diplomatic grouping known as the Friends of Syria met in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday to discuss a U.S.-Russian plan for peace talks, a low-key yet perhaps equally important gathering was being quietly held in Istanbul between Saudi officials and half of the 30 members of the Free Syrian Army’s Higher Military Command, which claims to represent most of the rebels fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The informal talks, which were held at a seaside hotel, marked the first gathering of the rebel group&#8217;s Military Command and Saudi officials since, according to senior members of the Military Command, Saudi Arabia stepped up earlier this month to become the main source of arms to the rebels. In so doing they nudged aside the smaller Persian Gulf state of Qatar, which had been the main supplier of weapons to the opposition since early 2012. Saudi officials have simply been meeting with the rebels on their own, without involving the Qataris. The change is significant because Qatar and Saudi Arabia each favor different rebel factions. The Qataris have backed more Islamist rebel groups, while the Saudis—despite Saudi Arabia&#8217;s ultraconservative form of government—have opted to support more moderate groups that may have an Islamist hue but are not considered conservative. The strong conservative Islamist current within rebel ranks may be weakened if support is increased to more moderate factions. (MORE: Syria&#8217;s Rebels Aren&#8217;t Winning the War: Anatomy of a Battle) The Saudi support for the more moderate rebel groups may seem at odds with Saudi Arabia&#8217;s own austere ideology but in the past, when the Saudis have backed ultraconservative Islamist militants (including supporting jihadists fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s) they have also experienced blowback domestically, notably when the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was once a Saudi citizen, branded the ruling House of Saud apostates. In early 2012, the two Gulf powerhouses, which are frequently political rivals, were instrumental in setting up a secretive group that operated something like a command center<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87256&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/20130522_sha_d99_190.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syrian rebels walk to reposition near Mena airport, in Aleppo, Syria, on May 22, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">raniaabouzeid</media:title>
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		<title>Syria Government to Take Part in Peace Conference</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/syria-government-to-take-part-in-peace-conference/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/syria-government-to-take-part-in-peace-conference/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 08:06:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Associated Press</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(MOSCOW) — The Syrian government has agreed to a conference on the country&#8217;s future proposed by Russia and the United States, Russia&#8217;s foreign ministry said Friday Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in televised remarks that the Syrian government had &#8220;agreed in principle&#8221; to participate in the conference in Geneva which is expected within two weeks. Lukashevich, however, said that it is impossible to set the date for the conference at this point because there is &#8220;no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have.&#8221; Opposition groups have spoken against Assad&#8217;s representatives taking part. Lukashevich also said Moscow &#8220;was not encouraged&#8221; by the results of recent meetings of members of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war. PHOTOS: The Syrian Civil War: Photographs by Alessio Romenzi<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87570&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>The Battle for Qusayr: What Victory in Syria&#8217;s Latest Front Means for the War</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/23/the-battle-for-qusayr-why-victory-in-syrias-latest-front-matters/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/23/the-battle-for-qusayr-why-victory-in-syrias-latest-front-matters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 18:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aryn Baker</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hizballah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lebanon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[al-qusayr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hezbollah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hizballah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[qusair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[qusayr]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87457</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fighting continued for a fifth straight day in the strategic Syrian city of Qusayr, as opposition forces fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad sought desperately to maintain their slipping grip in a battle that could dictate the direction of the war. As government tanks, artillery and warplanes pounded rebel positions throughout the city, fighters engaged in sniper attacks and small forays against government ground troops seeking to take terrain. Rebel fighters are calling it one of the worst ground battles of the war. “In some areas the fight is within three-meters diameter, and you are able to hear them yelling and crying in the battlefield,” Abu al-Baraa, a field commander from the Jabhat al-Nusra in Qusayr, tells TIME by telephone from Tripoli, where he is recovering from wounds gained earlier in the week. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra is fighting under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of volunteers, jihadists and opportunists aligned against the regime. Al-Baraa says he is in constant contact with his men at the front. “Now the battle is centralized in the eastern side of Qusayr, and our mujahedin are teaching [the Syrian government forces] hard lessons which, God willing, they will never forget.&#8221; He says his brigade has more than 2,000 fighters willing to sacrifice their lives to prevent Qusayr from being taken back by regime forces. Assad’s supporters are equally ferocious in their desire to retake the city, which has been under rebel control for several months. (MORE: The Belgian Teen Now Fighting in Syria) Qusayr, a city of 30,000, straddles a key transit corridor between the Syrian capital of Damascus and the coast. Victory in Qusayr allows the regime easy access to the Mediterranean port city of Tartus, where Russian tankers can supply both oil and weapons in case the Damascus airport is destroyed. Tartus is also the entryway to a coastal region dominated by Assad’s Alawite sect — an essential refuge for the President and his supporters should Damascus fall. “No doubt Qusayr is a strategic city for the Rafidah,”<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87457&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/int-syria-qusayr-130523.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syrian troops take control of the village of Western Dumayna, some seven kilometers north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">arynbaker</media:title>
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		<title>Kerry: U.S., Allies Ready to Step Up Aid to Syria&#8217;s Rebels</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/23/kerry-u-s-allies-ready-to-step-up-aid-to-syrias-rebels/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/23/kerry-u-s-allies-ready-to-step-up-aid-to-syrias-rebels/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 05:02:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Bassem Mroue and Bradley Klapper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87378</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(AMMAN, Jordan) — The U.S. and several key allies looked again Wednesday for a strategy to end Syria&#8217;s civil war, their united efforts unable at the moment to stem the Assad regime&#8217;s military gains and Washington still unwilling to join those providing the rebels with lethal military aid. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry allowed that President Barack Obama won&#8217;t send American troops to Syria. But he made clear that more aid to the rebels would be coming if the regime refuses to cooperate with an international effort — to be put together in June in Geneva — to form a transitional government. &#8220;In the event that we can&#8217;t find that way forward, in the event that the Assad regime is unwilling to negotiate Geneva in good faith, we will also talk about our continued support, growing support for opposition in order to permit them to continue to fight for the freedom of their country,&#8221; Kerry told a news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. They later joined nine of their colleagues from Europe and the Arab world in the Jordanian capital of Amman, alongside Syrian opposition leaders George Sabra and Gen. Salim Idris to plot a path forward. There, the U.S. and its partners sought to convince Syria&#8217;s rebels of the need to participate in any peace effort. &#8220;The only alternative to a negotiated settlement,&#8221; Kerry told the larger meeting, &#8220;is more killing, is more innocent civilian deaths, more chaos, more instability in part of the world that has already suffered too much.&#8221; &#8220;That path would lead to a lot more families being torn apart, to a lot more refugees crossing the borders,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is a path that would lead, potentially, to the splitting apart of Syria itself.&#8221; (MORE: Savage Online Videos Fuel Syria’s Descent Into Madness) Wednesday&#8217;s meeting came after several weeks of military gains by the Assad regime, including the reopening of a key southern highway to Jordan and a push into a strategic rebel-held western town over the weekend. Such successes will likely<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87378&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>UN: New Reports of Chemical Weapons Use in Syria</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/un-new-reports-of-chemical-weapons-use-in-syria/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/un-new-reports-of-chemical-weapons-use-in-syria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 19:22:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Edith M. Lederer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87301</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(UNITED NATIONS) — There are mounting reports of chemical weapons use as violence escalates in Syria, the U.N.&#8217;s top Mideast envoy said Wednesday. In response to these reports, Robert Serry told the Security Council that the United Nations is again urging the Syrian government to allow chemical weapons experts into the country immediately to investigate the allegations. The Syrian government asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack by rebels on March 19 on Khan al-Assal village in Aleppo, but insists that a probe be limited to that incident. Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed and injured in the incident, which the rebels blame on Syrian forces. Ban is insisting on a broader investigation, including a December incident in Homs raised by Britain and France. Serry gave no details on the new reports, or on who was responsible for the alleged attacks, but said the secretary-general remains &#8220;gravely concerned&#8221; about the allegations of chemical weapons use. &#8220;Amid mounting reports on the use of chemcal weapons, we once again urge the government of Syria to allow the investigation to proceed without further delay,&#8221; he said. A senior U.N. diplomat said Ban has received new information about alleged chemical weapons incidents since the beginning of April. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, refused to give any details. Syria&#8217;s U.N. Mission had no immediate comment. Ban appointed Swedish chemical weapons expert Ake Sellstrom, a former U.N. chemical weapons inspector in Iraq, to head the inspection team in late March. Sellstrom has visited key capitals, and members of his team have reportedly visited neighboring countries to try to gather evidence from refugees and others. Serry said the team of experts &#8220;has been doing what it can to gather and analyze available information,&#8221; but Ban has stressed repeatedly that on-site investigations are essential if the U.N. is to determine whether chemical weapons have been used. The confirmed use of chemical weapons could escalate the international response to the conflict, which has killed more than 70,000<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87301&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>The Belgian Teen Who Went to Fight in Syria: The Brian De Mulder Story</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/the-belgian-teen-who-went-to-fight-in-syria-the-brian-de-mulder-story/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/the-belgian-teen-who-went-to-fight-in-syria-the-brian-de-mulder-story/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 18:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Katz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Belgium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[antwerp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brian de mulder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fouad belkacem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[radicalization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vlaams belang]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86508</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like many boys in Antwerp, Brian De Mulder dreamed of being a professional footballer. His favorite team was continental powerhouse FC Barcelona and he sought to emulate its Argentine superstar Leo Messi, proudly wearing &#8220;10&#8243; on the back of his jersey. He had started playing the game at the age of six and grew into a talented attacker. He planned to make a life of it. Two years ago, Brian, then 17, was among several youth cut from his local cash-strapped club. He was devastated to be sidelined and distraught at what seemed like the end of a dream, his family told TIME. They couldn’t have predicted what happened next. Brian was raised Catholic and rarely got into trouble. He was tall and slim, with dark shaggy hair. He was proud of his mixed heritage—his mother is Brazilian—and often wore a white cross around his neck, a childhood gift from her. Shortly after being booted from the roster, a group of Moroccan teenagers invited him to play indoors. He jumped at the chance to the fill the void. At some point over the next two months, he started hanging around their mosque. They named him Ibrahim, says his older sister, Bruna Rodriguez. Later, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Abu Qasem Brazili. His parents were stunned by the sudden transformation, but the liberal De Mulders tolerated it. “She thought it was a phase of a teenager—of puberty,” Rodriguez, 25, said of their mother, who declined requests to speak with TIME. “‘In six months it will be over,’ she hoped. But it became worse with his age.” (VIDEO: The YouTube War: Online Videos Spread Fear in Syria) He was a good student, but tensions flared at school when he told other Muslims they weren’t pious enough; he left three months before earning his diploma. By his 18th birthday, he had taken up basic Arabic and would drop to his knees five times each day to pray. “It was more philosophical back then,” his aunt, Ingrid De Mulder, says. “He<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86508&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/the-belgian-teen-who-went-to-fight-in-syria-the-brian-de-mulder-story/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/de-mulder-1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">timecontributor8</media:title>
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		<title>Syria Opposition Signals Tough Line on Peace Talks</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/21/syria-opposition-signals-tough-line-on-peace-talks/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/21/syria-opposition-signals-tough-line-on-peace-talks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 03:09:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / BRADLEY S. KLAPPER and KARIN LAUB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — Despite recent rebel setbacks in Syria&#8216;s civil war, the main opposition bloc signaled a tough line Tuesday on attending possible peace talks with President Bashar Assad&#8216;s regime. Two senior members of the Syrian National Coalition said the group first wants ironclad guarantees of Assad&#8217;s departure as part of any transition deal and more weapons for rebel fighters. The group&#8217;s final position is to be hashed out in a three-day meeting of its General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey, later this week. Tuesday&#8217;s comments highlighted the wide gaps between many in the Syrian opposition and the regime just weeks before the U.S. and Russia hope to bring the sides together at an international conference in Geneva. Over the weekend, Assad also presented a hard line, challenging the idea of transition talks and saying he won&#8217;t step down before elections are held. Hours after those comments, his troops launched an offensive against a rebel-held town in western Syria, the latest in a series of military gains by the regime. (More: How Syria’s Rebels Aren’t Winning the War: The Anatomy of a Battle) &#8220;There are many obstacles facing the conference,&#8221; Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria and lead organizer of the gathering, acknowledged Tuesday, after meeting with the Arab League chief in Cairo. Much about the conference remains up in the air, including the date, the agenda, timetable and list of participants. Brahimi said the conference, initially envisioned for late May, should be held in June at the latest. The goal is to launch talks between the regime and the opposition on a transitional government in Syria — an idea that was first adopted by the international community in Geneva a year ago but never got off the ground. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Russia decided to give diplomacy another try, even though they have been backing opposite sides in the 26-month-old conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 people. The joint effort was quickly overshadowed by disagreements, particularly over Russian shipments of advanced missiles to Assad, deemed ill-timed and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87168&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Syria, Israel Exchange Fire over Border</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/21/syria-says-it-destroys-israeli-vehicle-in-golan/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/21/syria-says-it-destroys-israeli-vehicle-in-golan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:56:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / ALBERT AJI</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=87116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(DAMASCUS, Syria) &#8212; Syria said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights overnight, while the Israeli military said gunfire from Syria had hit an Israeli patrol, damaging a vehicle and prompting its troops to fire back. The two sides appeared to be referring to the same incident. Sporadic fire from Syria&#8217;s civil war has occasionally hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 war. Israel assumes most of the incidents are accidental fire but its forces have responded on several occasions. Tuesday&#8217;s incident, however, marked the first time that the Syrian army has acknowledged firing at Israeli troops across the frontier, and appeared to be an attempt by President Bashar Assad&#8217;s regime to project toughness following three Israeli airstrikes near Damascus this year. The strikes, which targeted alleged Syrian arms shipments bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, marked a sharp escalation of Israel&#8217;s involvement in the Syrian civil war. They also raised fears that a conflict that has repeatedly spilled over Syria&#8217;s borders could turn into a full-fledged regional war. Syria vowed to retaliate and Assad said Syria is &#8220;capable of facing Israel&#8221; and would not accept violations of its sovereignty. Firing at an Israeli target seems to be in line with the tougher rhetoric that followed the airstrikes. A statement issued Tuesday by the Syrian Armed Forces said its troops destroyed the Israeli vehicle along &#8220;with those in it.&#8221; It said Israel later fired two missiles towards one of the Syrian positions in the village of Zobaydiya village, causing no casualties. The village is located inside the Syrian controlled Golan and the state-run SANA news agency said rebels were operating in the area. The border zone has seen repeated breaches during Syria&#8217;s two-year civil war as rebels took control over some villages near the ceasefire line. The army statement carried by SANA said any attempt to infiltrate Syria&#8217;s sovereignty will face &#8220;immediate and firm retaliation. &#8220; Earlier Tuesday, Israel&#8217;s military said gunfire from Syria had<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=87116&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Activists Say 28 Hezbollah Members Killed in Syria</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/report-23-hezbollah-members-killed-in-syria/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/report-23-hezbollah-members-killed-in-syria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 08:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Barbara Surk and Zeina Karam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86964</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — Fierce street fighting in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border has killed at least 28 elite members of Lebanon&#8217;s militant Hezbollah group, activists said Monday, as Syrian government forces pushed deeper into the strategic, opposition-held town. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syria&#8217;s civil war, said that more than 70 Hezbollah fighters have also been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Iranian-backed Shiite group, which has come under harsh criticism at home for its involvement in the war next door. A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent fighters to aid government forces. The Lebanese group&#8217;s growing role in the conflict also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the war in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country&#8217;s Sunni majority seeks to overthrow a regime dominated by the president&#8217;s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The increasingly overt Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian conflict is almost certain to threaten stability in Lebanon, which is sharply split along sectarian lines, and between supporters and opponents of Assad. The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists on the ground in Syria, cited &#8220;sources close to the militant group&#8221; for the death toll but declined to reveal their identity. It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two commanders. Qusair has been the target of a withering government offensive in recent weeks, and the countryside around the town has been engulfed in fighting as regime troops backed by Hezbollah fighters seized villages while closing in on Qusair itself. The opposition estimates that some 40,000 civilians are currently in the town. The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance that both sides attach to the area. In the regime&#8217;s calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land corridor linking Damascus with the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86964&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/mideast-syria_yang.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Mideast Syria</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>How Syria&#8217;s Rebels Aren&#8217;t Winning the War: The Anatomy of a Battle</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/how-syrias-rebels-arent-winning-the-war-the-anatomy-of-a-battle/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/how-syrias-rebels-arent-winning-the-war-the-anatomy-of-a-battle/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 04:11:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rania Abouzeid / Southern Idlib Province, Syria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rebels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suqoor al-Sham]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86703</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The short message screeched over a walkie-talkie, prompting the half a dozen rebels in the room who had been lounging on flat mattresses and drinking tea to jump to their feet, grab their guns and run out of the door. It was almost 7:30 p.m. Ten men in civilian garb had just sneaked out of the Syrian army’s Zahlanee checkpoint some 500 m away from the rebel position, just across an olive grove, and were now moving toward a cave on the outskirts of the grove. The cave had been a rebel position at one point. “They told them not to be late,” the voice over the walkie-talkie said, relaying what he had heard from a transmitter set to intercept Syrian Army communications, “so they’re not defectors. They’re not trying to defect. They’re planning something, but what I don’t know.” A rebel named Ahmad picked up a BKC machine gun, while others grabbed Kalashnikov rifles. Another rebel, Abu Sammy, manned the 14.5-mm antiaircraft gun mounted on the back of a navy blue pickup truck as his colleagues in the Farouq Brigade bundled into the back. It sped a short distance down a narrow deserted path closer to the Zahlanee checkpoint, one of two key loyalist positions that protect the larger, fortified Wadi Deif military base. (The other is called the Hamidiyeh.) The base is one of the last remaining Syrian military outposts in the vast northern province of Idlib. The rebels have been trying to overrun it since at least October as they try to wrest full control of Idlib. So far, Syria’s rebel forces have not managed to gain full control of any of the country’s 14 provinces. (VIDEO: The YouTube War: Online Videos Spread Fear in Syria) Dusk was falling and it was raining as the men dismounted and spread out near an abandoned, partially destroyed house near the olive grove. Some of them crouched near herbs planted in rusting 18-L tins of vegetable oil lined along the patio as the pickup truck maneuvered into position. Abu Sammy fired<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86703&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/int_syria_gallery_0515.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syrian army soldiers inspect a house in the village of Western Dumayna, near the rebel-held city of Qusayr, Syria, on May 13, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">raniaabouzeid</media:title>
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		<title>Syrian Troops Push into Strategic Rebel-held Town</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/19/syrian-troops-push-into-strategic-rebel-held-town/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/19/syrian-troops-push-into-strategic-rebel-held-town/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 02:11:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / KARIN LAUB</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — Syrian troops pushed into a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, fighting house-to-house and bombing from the air as President Bashar Assad tried to strengthen his grip on a strategic strip of land running from the capital to the Mediterranean coast. With the regime scoring gains on the battlefield, the U.S. and Russia could face an even tougher task persuading Assad and his opponents to attend talks on ending Syria&#8217;s 26-month-old conflict. Washington and Moscow hope to start talks with an international conference as early as next month, though no date has been set. Government forces launched the offensive on the town of Qusair just hours after Assad said in a newspaper interview that he&#8217;ll stay in his job until elections — effectively rejecting an opposition demand that any talks on a political transition lead to his ouster. (More: Assad’s Big Ally: How Deeply Entrenched Is Iran in Syria?) Even though the regime and the main opposition group have not yet committed to attending the conference, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday that he is hopeful it can take place &#8220;very soon,&#8221; possibly in early June. In addition to the U.S. and Russia, he said he has spoken with Britain, France, China and other key parties. Previous diplomatic initiatives have failed, in part because of divisions within the international community and because the regime and the armed opposition believed they could achieve more on the battlefield than in talks. Russia and the U.S. have backed opposite sides in Syria. Still, neither regime forces nor rebel fighters have been able to create significant momentum since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and last year escalated into a full-fledged civil war. The rebels control large rural areas in the north and east of the country, while Assad has successfully defended his hold on the capital, Damascus, the coastal area and parts of Aleppo, Syria&#8217;s largest city. Before Sunday&#8217;s offensive, Qusair had been ringed by regime troops and fighters from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, an Assad ally,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86871&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Syria&#8217;s Assad Says He Won&#8217;t Step Down</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/18/syrias-assad-says-he-wont-step-down/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/18/syrias-assad-says-he-wont-step-down/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 19:43:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Karin Laub</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86855</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won&#8217;t step down and will instead &#8220;face the storm,&#8221; raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country&#8217;s civil war. In the Syrian capital Damascus, meanwhile, a powerful explosion went off in the Ruken al-Deen neighborhood, killing three people and wounding five, Syrian state TV reported. It said the blast was caused by a car bomb and that experts are dismantling other explosives in the area. On the diplomatic front, Syria&#8217;s political opposition has said any transition talks must lead to Assad&#8217;s ouster. However, the Syrian leader told the Argentine newspaper Clarin in comments published Saturday that he won&#8217;t leave before elections are held in his country, and suggested he might seek another term. (PHOTOS: Chaos and Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War) Assad&#8217;s comments were the first about his political future since the U.S. and Russia agreed earlier this month to try to bring the Syrian regime and the opposition to an international conference for talks aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Such a gathering is envisioned for next month, but no date has been set, and neither the Assad regime nor the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed coalition group, has made a firm commitment to attend. The Syrian president&#8217;s remarks highlighted the difficulties the U.S. and Russia face in getting the two sides to agree on the terms of negotiations. More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war. Assad has dismissed those trying to topple him as foreign-backed terrorists. Many in the political opposition say the Syrian president and his inner circle cannot be expected to negotiate in good faith after they brutally suppressed peaceful protests. In his comments Saturday, Assad appeared to play down the importance of any international conference, saying Syria&#8217;s future will be determined by its people<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86855&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Top Russian Diplomat Explains Reasons for Syrian Arms Sales</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/top-russian-diplomat-explains-logic-behind-syrian-arms-sales/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/top-russian-diplomat-explains-logic-behind-syrian-arms-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 18:19:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Shuster / Moscow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrei klimov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bashar Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[s-300]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yakhont]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86822</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the past two weeks, the U.S. and its allies have done just about everything short of getting down on their collective knees and begging Russia to stop delivering weapons to the Syrian government. President Vladimir Putin has received visits this month from three of the most powerful statesmen in the western world: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on May 7, British Prime Minister David Cameron three days later and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three days after that. Along with U.S. President Barack Obama, who spoke to Putin by phone on April 29, they have all implored the Russian leader to stop arming President Bashar Assad’s regime. However, last week it became clear that Russia was going ahead with S-300 sales immediately despite Kerry&#8217;s overtures. This week, the New York Times reported that Russia is delivering not only the sophisticated S-300 antiaircraft systems to Syria but the dreaded Yakhont &#8220;ship-killer&#8221; missiles, which would make it a lot more painful for any foreign navies trying to intervene in Syria or provide supplies to the rebels by sea. Why has Russia apparently decided to ramp up its arms supplies to Damascus, despite the West&#8217;s pleas? TIME spoke last week with top Russian diplomat Andrei Klimov, the deputy chairman of the foreign-affairs committee in the Russian parliament, who explained it as Moscow hedging its bets. (MORE: Exclusive: ‘We Will Slaughter All of Them.’ The Rebel Behind the Syrian Atrocity Video) Weapons systems like the S-300, he said, &#8220;would simply set the right conditions&#8221; for negotiating Assad&#8217;s departure. On May 7, Kerry and Putin agreed to begin those negotiations at an international summit in the coming weeks. &#8220;To put it simply, the S-300 will put a damper on any desire to attack Syria from the air if that is the real intention of our partners&#8221; heading into these negotiations. Russia&#8217;s intention in all of this is to avoid making the same mistake it made with Libya, said Klimov, who has traveled to Syria during the civil war there to assess Russia&#8217;s options. In<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86822&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Russia</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/russia/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/int-putin-130517-e1368829192744.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Putin</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">simonshuster</media:title>
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		<title>Report: Torture Evidence Found in Syrian Prisons</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/report-torture-evidence-found-in-syrian-prisons/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/report-torture-evidence-found-in-syrian-prisons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 11:07:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Associated Press</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86801</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) &#8212; Rights activists have found torture devices and other evidence of abuse in government prisons in the first Syrian city to come under the control of the opposition, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. Raqqa, in eastern Syria, was overrun in late February by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. The rebels facilitated the New York-based group&#8217;s access to facilities that had belonged to a government security agency and military intelligence in late April. (PHOTOS: The Syrian Civil War: Photographs by Alessio Romenzi) The HRW said its researchers found physical evidence that Syrians were tortured, including with a device which former detainees said was used to stretch or bend victims&#8217; arms and legs. The group also found documents indicating Raqqa residents were detained for legal actions like demonstrating or helping the injured. Rights groups and opposition activists have long claimed that civilians have been detained arbitrarily, tortured, and sometimes have disappeared since the uprising against Assad&#8217;s regime began. HRW&#8217;s findings appear to be one of the largest finds of physical evidence bolstering those claims to date. &#8220;The documents, prison cells, interrogation rooms, and torture devices we saw in the government&#8217;s security facilities are consistent with the torture former detainees have described to us,&#8221; said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director for HRW. HRW has been documenting abuses on both sides of Syria&#8217;s civil war during the 26 months of conflict. The group says abuses by the Assad regime remain far more deadly, systematic and widespread, including attacks on civilians with indiscriminate battlefield weapons such as widely banned cluster bombs. But the rights group also says rebel abuses have increased in frequency and scale in recent months. In Raqqa, the group&#8217;s researchers inspected the State Security and Military Intelligence branches and three other detention centers formerly managed by Criminal Security, Political Security, and Air Force Intelligence. Government forces abandoned all these institutions, which are now controlled by the rebels, the group said. On the ground floor and in the basement of the State Security facility, HRW found<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86801&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Syria Ex-minister Leads Rebuilding Plan</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/syria-ex-minister-leads-rebuilding-plan/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/17/syria-ex-minister-leads-rebuilding-plan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 08:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / BARBARA SURK</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86789</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country&#8217;s civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. A joint U.S.-Russian push to bring together Syria&#8217;s political opposition and representatives of President Bashar Assad&#8217;s regime to negotiate a peaceful transition has given their work new urgency. In a rare interview, the U.S.-educated economist, Abdullah al-Dardari, told The Associated Press that more than two years of fighting have cost Syria at least $60 billion and caused the vital oil industry to crumble. A quarter of all homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, and much of the medical system is in ruins. (More: Savage Online Videos Fuel Syria’s Descent Into Madness) Now, he says, the Syrians have to be ready to rebuild when the fighting ends. He says his team has been overwhelmed with requests for a reconstruction plan to support the U.S.-Russian initiative on the off chance it succeeds. &#8220;I see a glimmer of hope,&#8221; said al-Dardari, who now works for a Beirut-based U.N. development agency. &#8220;There appears to be more readiness for a political compromise by different groups in the opposition and by officials in the government.&#8221; Earlier this month, the U.S. and Russia agreed on a joint push to get Syria&#8217;s political opposition and representatives of the Assad regime to negotiate a political transition in Syria. An international conference, possibly to be held in early June, would help launch talks. Despite much skepticism, the initiative, announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week in Moscow, is the first serious attempt in a year to end Syria&#8217;s civil war, which has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced more than 5 million. The two sides remain far apart on the terms for negotiations, with the opposition insisting Assad must step down first and the regime unwilling to commit to an open-ended cease-fire. Both say they want to hear more about the agenda and participants before<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86789&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Syrian Troops Flush Out Rebels from Prison</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/syrian-troops-flush-out-rebels-from-prison/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/syrian-troops-flush-out-rebels-from-prison/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 01:59:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / ZEINA KARAM</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86762</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(BEIRUT) — Syrian government troops on Thursday flushed out rebels who had stormed a prison compound in the northern city of Aleppo in a bid to free hundreds of political prisoners inside. The forced retreat was the latest setback for fighters seeking to topple President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been gaining ground in the country&#8217;s civil war. In Washington, President Barack Obama and the Turkish prime minister projected a united front on Syria, despite sharp differences about how much the U.S. should intervene. &#8220;There&#8217;s no magic formula for dealing with an extraordinarily violent and difficult situation like Syria,&#8221; Obama said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which he pledged that the U.S. and Turkey would ramp up pressure to oust Assad from power. (More: Chaos and Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War) Forces loyal to Assad have recently made advances in strategically important locations across the country, including in areas around the capital, Damascus, and in the country&#8217;s south, near the border with Jordan. The troops have been bolstered by the world&#8217;s reluctance to take forceful action to intervene in the fighting, as well as the continued support from key allies, including Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Assad has also benefited from the rapid rise of al-Qaida-linked extremists among the rebels, which has raised alarm in the West. Militant groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States, have emerged as one of the most potent fighting forces in the uprising against Assad. A video emerged Thursday showing a Nusra Front commander killing 11 regime soldiers execution-style for alleged crimes they committed against the Syrian people. Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, whose group distributed the video, confirmed the killings took place late last year in eastern Deir el-Zour province and identified the Nusra commander as a Saudi known by the name Qusoura al-Jazrawi. He said the man was killed in March in battles with local gunmen in the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86762&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Turkey&#8217;s Erdogan Visits the U.S.: 4 Problems That Won&#8217;t Be Solved</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 23:29:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ishaan Tharoor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Erdogan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mavi Marmara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Netanyahu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rose garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86752</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As domestic scandals clouded Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived for a U.S. visit enveloped in his own fog. The Turkish Premier has been one of the most outspoken international statesmen on the need for intervention in the brutal Syrian civil war raging on his country’s border. The main agenda of his American sojourn was to seek support from an Obama Administration that has watched the conflict warily. At a joint press conference on May 16 in the White House’s Rose Garden, Erdogan and Obama stood in the rain and reaffirmed their shared wish that Syrian President Bashar Assad be removed from power. But much went unspoken. As Erdogan’s visit concludes, here are four geopolitical conundrums that underlie his country’s relationship with Washington. 1. Syria Erdogan’s clamor for action on the issue of Syria was given tragic reinforcement last weekend when two car bombs ripped through the Turkish town of Reyhanli, on the Syrian border. Some 50 people died and dozens more were injured in an attack that Turkish authorities blame on agents of the Assad regime. Turkey now houses nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the war and has lost 19 of its own nationals in isolated clashes with Syrian forces. Turkey is a member of NATO, whose founding treaty stipulates collective action if a member state comes under attack. Erdogan gestures to both those obligations as well as the heavy burden of the refugee influx when underscoring the need for greater international involvement in Syria. This would include the long-sought arming of the Free Syrian Army by the West. But Obama made no mention of weapons in his promises of aid. Despite being one of the rebellion’s earliest cheerleaders, Erdogan and his government appear to have only limited sway over the opposition, which has seen an influx of radical jihadist fighters swell its ranks of fighters on the ground. The focus now falls on a planned U.N. conference to be held this June in Geneva, with diplomatic prodding from the U.S. and Russia hopefully bringing both the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86752&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Turkey</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/turkey/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/bk-obama-20130516-0090.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">From right: U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walk to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington D.C., on May 16, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">itharoor</media:title>
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		<title>UN General Assembly Approves Syria Resolution</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/15/un-general-assembly-approves-syria-resolution/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/15/un-general-assembly-approves-syria-resolution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 02:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / EDITH M. LEDERER</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=86663</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(UNITED NATIONS) — The U.N. General Assembly approved an Arab-backed resolution Wednesday calling for a political transition in Syria, but more than 70 countries refused to vote &#8220;yes&#8221; because of its support for the main opposition group and fears the resolution could torpedo a new U.S.-Russia effort to end the escalating conflict. The United States co-sponsored the resolution, saying it would promote a political solution. But key Syrian ally Russia urged a &#8220;no&#8221; vote, saying it was &#8220;counterproductive and irresponsible&#8221; to promote a one-sided resolution when Moscow and Washington are trying to get the Syrian government and opposition to agree to negotiations. The resolution, which is not legally binding though it can carry moral weight, was approved by a vote of 107-12 with 59 abstentions. (More: Syria: Intervention Will Only Make it Worse) It welcomes the establishment of the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group, &#8220;as effective interlocutors needed for a political transition&#8221; and notes &#8220;wide international acknowledgment&#8221; that the group is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. It also strongly condemns President Bashar Assad&#8217;s regime for its escalating use of heavy weapons and &#8220;gross violations&#8221; of human rights. The Arab group decided to seek approval of a wide-ranging resolution on Syria in the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, to reflect international dismay at the increasing death toll, now more than 70,000, and the failure to end the more than two-year-old conflict. Unlike Security Council resolutions, which are legally binding, General Assembly resolutions cannot be enforced. But approval of an assembly resolution would counter the paralysis of the deeply divided Security Council, where Syria&#8217;s allies, Russia and China, have vetoed three Western-backed resolutions aimed at pressuring Assad to end the violence. General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic told the 193-member world body that &#8220;what happens in Syria in the weeks and months ahead will profoundly bear upon the security and well-being of the entire region, and possibly beyond.&#8221; Jeremic warned, &#8220;If we are unable to do anything to stop this tragedy, then how can we sustain the moral<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=86663&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/middle-east/syria/</primary_category_link>
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