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Bassem Mroue

In this image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Wednesday, May 16, 2012, purports to show a towed U.N. observer car in Idlib, Khan Sheikhoun, Syria. A team of international observers were evacuated Wednesday from a tense town in northern Syria a day after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, a U.N. spokesman said. The team's vehicles were struck by the blast Tuesday during a mission in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

UN team in Syria evacuated from tense town

Last updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - 10:23am

BEIRUT -- A team of international observers was evacuated Wednesday from a tense town in northern Syria a day after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, a U.N. spokesman said.

Syrian violence, United Nations, International Read more Comments

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, flames and smoke raise from burned cars after two bombs exploded, at Qazaz neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday May 10, 2012. Two large explosions ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, heavily damaging a military intelligence building and leaving blood and human remains in the streets. (AP Photo/SANA)

Syrian peace plan in 'crisis'

Bassem Mroue, Malcom Foster The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, May 11, 2012 - 10:12am

DAMASCUS, Syria -- A Syrian opposition leader said Friday the regime is trying to destroy a U.N.-brokered peace plan for the country. The accusations came as security forces fanned out following twin suicide car bombings that killed 55 people in Damascus.

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This image made from amateur video and released by Shaam News Network Friday, April 20, 2012, purports to show an explosion amid heavy shelling in the Khaldiyeh area of Homs, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

Syrian troops fire on protesters

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, April 20, 2012 - 9:35am

BEIRUT -- Syrian troops fired bullets and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters Friday, activists said, and state media reported that a roadside bomb killed 10 soldiers in the latest violence to defy international efforts to calm the country's crisis.

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Fragile UN-brokered cease-fire takes hold in Syria

Bassem Mroue, Karin Laub The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:49pm

BEIRUT -- A fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.N. took hold in Syria on Thursday with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition. But scattered violence was reported and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks, drawing criticism from international envoy Kofi Annan.

Annan told the U.N. Security Council that he was "encouraged" that the truce appeared to be holding but warned the Syrian regime has failed to implement key demands such as withdrawing troops and heavy weapons from cities and towns.

Cease-fire, Syria, U.N. Security Council, United Nations, International Read more Comments

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, right, speaks with Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay after his visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey, April 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Bulent Kilic, Pool)

Kofi Annan seeks Iran’s help in Syria crisis

Bassem Mroue, Ali Akbar Dareini The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 8:46am

TEHRAN, Iran — Special envoy Kofi Annan said Wednesday in Tehran that Iran could help solve the crisis in Syria, where activists reported fresh violence near the capital Damascus a day before an international cease-fire is supposed to take effect.

Cease-fire, Kofi Annan, Negotiations, United Nations, International Read more Comments

Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, unseen, at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. Syria accepted a peace plan by Annan, which includes a cease-fire by Syrian forces and a daily two-hour halt to fighting to evacuate the injured, Annan's spokesman said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Lintao Zhang, Pool)

Syria accepts UN peace plan but bloodshed persists

Bassem Mroue, Elizabeth A. Kennedy The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - 9:39am

QAA, Lebanon -- Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, but the bloodshed persisted Tuesday as intense clashes between government troops and rebels spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said.

Syria Government, Syrian violence, United Nations, International Read more Comments

Muslim group wants democracy in Syria

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 26, 2012 - 1:50pm

BEIRUT -- Syrian forces fired shells at a central city that has come to symbolize the anti-government uprising Monday, activists said, while the country's Muslim Brotherhood branch said it would work for a democratic state if President Bashar Assad falls.

Democracy, Muslims, Syria Government, Syrian rebels, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

Men pray at a funeral of the victims killed during a suicide bombing attack in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, March 18, 2012. Three suicide bombings in the capital Damascus on Saturday killed several people. The government blamed those on the opposition, which it claims is made up of "terrorist" groups carrying out a foreign conspiracy. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

Rebels, Syria troops clash in Damascus

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 9:40am

BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces clashed Monday with gunmen in an upscale neighborhood of the capital Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in one of the worst confrontations in the tightly-controlled city center in the country's yearlong uprising. At least three people were killed.

Middle East, Syria Government, Syrian rebels, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

A woman holds a machine gun during an anti government slogans in a town in north Syria, Friday, March 2, 2012. Syria has faced mounting international criticism over its bloody crackdown on the uprising, which started with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Activists allege execution-style killings in Syria

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 2, 2012 - 12:53pm

BEIRUT -- Syrian activists accused regime forces of carrying out execution-style killings and burning homes Friday as part of a scorched-earth campaign in a restive neighborhood in the city of Homs, and the Red Cross said the regime blocked the group's access to the area following a bloody, monthlong siege to dislodge rebel forces.

Middle East, Syrian Government, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

This is an undated image made available Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012 by the Sunday Times in London of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin photographed in Tahrir square in Cairo. The French government spokeswoman on Wednesday identified two Western reporters killed in Syria as American war reporter Marie Colvin and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik . Colvin, from Oyster Bay, New York, had been a foreign correspondent for Britain's Sunday Times for two decades, reporting from the world's most dangerous places. She lost the sight in one eye in Sri Lanka in 2001 but did not let that deter her.(AP Photo/Ivor Prickett Sunday Times)

Syria shelling kills 2 journalists

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 12:40pm

BEIRUT — A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday as Syrian forces intensely shelled the opposition stronghold of Homs.

Journalists, Shelling, Syria Government, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

This image from amateur video made available by Shaam News Network, purports to show a Syrian military tank in Daraa, Syria, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. An activist group says Syrian rebels have repelled a push by government tanks into a key central town held by forces fighting against President Bashar Assad's regime. The Arab League called for the Security Council to create a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force for Syria and urged Arab states to sever all diplomatic contact with Damascus. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL.

Activists: Syrian rebels repel attack on town

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 13, 2012 - 12:19pm

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels repelled a push Monday by government tanks into a central town held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime in an 11-month conflict that looks increasingly like a civil war.

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In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security forces walk on the wreckage of a damaged building at a security compound which was attacked by an explosion, in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday Feb. 10, 2012. Two explosions targeted security compounds in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, state media said, causing an unspecified number of casualties in a major city seen as key to President Bashar Assad's grip on power. (AP Photo/SANA)

Blasts hit security HQs in Syrian city

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, February 10, 2012 - 10:44am

BEIRUT -- Two explosions struck security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, killing 25 people and wounding 175, state media reported, in a major city that has largely stood by President Bashar Assad in the nearly 11-month-old uprising against his rule.

Arab Protests, Assad, Explosions, Middle East, Syrian Government, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

In this Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 photo Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after talks in Damascus, Syria. Lavrov's visit comes days after Syrian allies Russia and China vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the United Nations that would have condemned the Assad regime's crackdown on dissents and calling on him to transfer some of his powers to his deputy. Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief Mikhail Fradkov stands at center.(AP Photo/Pool)

EU threatens new sanctions on Syria

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - 10:44am

BEIRUT -- The European Union will impose harsher sanctions on Syria, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed in military assaults targeting government opponents.

Arab Protests, Economic sanctions, Syria Government, Syrian violence, Violence, European Union, International Read more Comments

Syrian investigators, right, inspect next to a damaged car at the scene of a bomb in Midan neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, on Friday Jan. 6, 2012. An explosion ripped through a police bus in the center of Syria's capital Friday, killing many in an attack authorities blamed on a suicide bomber, an official and state-run TV said. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

Syria says at least 11 killed in Damascus blast

Albert Aji, Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 6, 2012 - 10:29am

DAMASCUS, Syria -- An explosion ripped through a busy intersection in the Syrian capital Friday, hitting a police bus and killing at least 11 people and possibly many more in an attack that left pools of blood in the streets and marked the second deadly attack in the capital in as many weeks, Syrian authorities said.

Bombing, Fatal, Middle East, Syria, International Read more Comments

Masked Syrian refugees make victory signs at a protest in front of the Syrian embassy while chanting slogans against President Bashar Assad in Amman, Jordan, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians protest government

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 30, 2011 - 10:52am

BEIRUT -- Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets across the nation Friday in the largest protests in months, shouting for the downfall of the regime in a defiant display invigorated by the presence of Arab observers, activists said.

Arab Protests, Syria, Syria Government, International Read more Comments