The disaffected youth and religious radicals in the Muslim world are obsessed with Europe’s top football leagues. Testimony of an Italian reporter, who was held hostage earlier this year in Syria.
Tag: aleppo
Ankara had bet on Islamist rebels taking down the Assad regime. Now they may have helped create a monster right across the border.
ISTANBUL — A series of reports shows a growing number of recruitment campaigns to sign up young Turkish people to fight in the Syrian war — on all sides. The youth, generally ranging in age from 18 to 30, are mostly from the Adiyaman province in southeastern Turkey, though others come from a number of […]
ALEPPO — The atmosphere was tense in Bustan al-Qasr after a Friday protest turned into a fight between two groups, one calling for an Islamic state after President Bashar al-Assad’s fall and the other demanding a free and liberal future for Syria. The shabiha — pro-government militias or spies in civilian clothing — were spotted […]
Worldcrunch PARIS – La Stampa’s veteran war correspondent Domenico Quirico has been missing in Syria more than three weeks now. Our Turin-based partner released the news earlier this week after working quietly with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to trace the journalist. Heading for Homs, he crossed the Syrian border through Lebanon on April 6 […]
ALEPPO – For nearly three months, a rumor has been spreading through Aleppo: whoever faces hardship, however small, can go to a hearing of the “Committee for the promotion of good deeds and support of the oppressed.” There, in this northern neighborhood of the country’s largest city, members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are […]
BERLIN – In late 2011, a former German television correspondent in Tel Aviv, Sebastian Engelbrecht, reported some sensational news: Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal had “renounced armed combat against Israel,” conflicts among Palestinians were in the process of being resolved and “by early May in Gaza and the West Bank a new president and parliament will […]
BASEL – Johann Ludwig Burckhardt’s bust can be seen at the foot of the monumental staircase of his family’s palace in Basel, Switzerland. It is hard to believe that this is his family home when you see his long curled beard and oriental turban. Burckhardt – also known as Sheikh Ibrahim – who died at […]
SYRIAN OBSERVATORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (UK), AL ARABIYA (UAE) Worldcrunch Reports emerged Thursday that pro-Assad forces killed more than 100 people earlier this week, including women and children, on farmland on the outskirts of Syria’s central city of Homs. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), forces loyal to President Bashar al […]
HÜRRIYET (Turkey), THE GUARDIAN (UK), REUTERS, FRANCE 24 Worldcrunch ISTANBUL– The Syrian government has announced it would free 2,130 civilian prisoners on Wednesday, in exchange for the release of 48 Iranians held by Syrian rebels. Iranian state TV confirmed that the 48 hostages, captured by the Free Syrian Army back in August, had been freed. […]
ALEPPO – As a man cleans his Kalashnikov, another next to him is peeling garlic for supper. At his feet, the assigned cook has left his pistol and his knitting, with the needles stuck inside – it is a striped scarf with the colors of the rebellion. A small fire is lighting up the walls […]
HAARETZ (Israel), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Syria’s ambassador to Venezuela has denied allegations Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad is considering seeking political asylum in Latin America. On Tuesday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz suggested President Assad’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad had previously held meetings in Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador in order to ensure the President’s safe […]
AFP (France), BBC (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch A Syrian fighter-jet killed 18 people in the rebel-held town of Al-Bab on Monday. AFP reports that the airstrike on Monday was the latest in a series of attacks on towns and villages in Aleppo province. Victims of the attack on the building in Al-Bab included 10 […]