U.S. has ‘little doubt’ chemical arms used in Syria: senior official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States now has little doubt the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians last week, and President Barack Obama is studying how to respond, a senior official in the U.S. administration said on Sunday.
Syria says granted access to U.N. to chemical weapons site
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria has agreed to allow U.N. inspectors access to sites in suburbs of Damascus where alleged chemical attacks occurred last week, the Syria Foreign Ministry said in a statement broadcast on state television.
South Sudan’s Kiir puts generals under investigation for abuses
JUBA (Reuters) – Several South Sudanese army generals have been put under investigation for alleged human rights abuses in the east of the country where the army is fighting a rebellion, President Salva Kiir said on Sunday.
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe threatens U.S., UK firms over Western sanctions
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe threatened on Sunday to retaliate “tit for tat” against companies from Britain and the United States if these Western powers persisted in pressuring his government with sanctions and what he called “h…
Insight: Syria’s opposition considers national rebel army, Islamists angered
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s Western-backed political opposition plans to create the nucleus of a national army to bring order to the disparate rebel forces battling President Bashar al-Assad and counter the strength of al Qaeda-linked rebel brigades.
Large arms shipment reaches Syrian rebels: opposition
AMMAN (Reuters) – Gulf-based supporters have sent a 400-ton shipment of arms to Syria’s outgunned rebels, one of the biggest to reach them in their two-year-old uprising, opposition sources said on Sunday.
Egypt arrests suspected Islamist militants
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities arrested an Islamist militant on Sunday, saying he was close to the brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri and had supplied arms to supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, according to security sources….
Syria’s Nusra threatens to rocket Alawites over alleged chemical attack
DUBAI (Reuters) – An al Qaeda-affiliated rebel commander in Syria has pledged to target communities of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority with rockets in revenge for an alleged chemical attack near Damascus, according to an audio recor…
Oman’s Qaboos on Tehran visit, U.S.-Iran mediation in focus
DUBAI (Reuters) – Oman’s Sultan Qaboos on Sunday began the first visit to Iran by a foreign leader since moderate President Hassan Rouhani took office and Iranian media said his trip might be an effort to mediate between Tehran and Washington.
Syria government warns any U.S. intervention would ‘inflame Mideast’
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian authorities warned the United States against any military action over a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria’s civil war, saying this would “create a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East”.
