Assad

Meanwhile, the opposition, which dismissed Mr Assad's speech out of hand, is trying to draw the silent majority into its movement.

For the last decade, Assad has been seen as a promising young leader capable of reform and changing the course of his country.

In the beginning, al-Assad was viewed by some as a fresh, youthful leader who might usher in a more progressive, more moderate regime.

How much does Mr Assad want economic reform?

"If we want to be honest, we're waiting for a truce, we want to negotiate for him to leave, " he added, referring to President Assad.

BASHAR ASSAD, Syria's president, has made it a bit harder for men to kill their daughters and sisters for the sake of "honour" .

President Assad did not mention a timetable, and he did not clarify on which side of the border the troops would remain after the pullback.

Pictures of the president, Bashar Assad, have been torn down and a plinth where a statue of his father, Hafez, once towers stands empty.

But such a focus on firepower would play into Mr Assad's hands: the grounds on which he would most like to fight are military.

Iraq has long suffered from the infiltration of jihadists from Syria, who might be emboldened if the Assad regime were to fall.

Syrian activists say security forces have killed at least six people as they continue to try to crush protests against President Assad.

Clinton said Monday that Mr. Assad has "lost legitimacy" and is "not indispensable. " She also said the U.

The United States is trying to disrupt the Assad regime's "ability to finance its campaign of violence, " Clinton said.

Did the sudden collapse of most of the Libyan regime's defenses in and around Tripoli cause Assad to feel a heightened sense of anxiety?

The girl he loves is safe and those "paper tigers" of Assad's security forces will be unable to withstand the wind of change, he believes.

Mr. Kerry said that he thought Mr. Assad would not survive as Syria's leader much longer. "The time is ticking, " he said.

We have not found a leader as powerful as him asking Assad to leave and calling him an illegitimate president.

He grew up in the shadow of his father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, and his older brother, who was groomed to be the next president.

Still, the rest of Mr Assad's supporters within the regime are likely to stick with him.

But Assad said the commitment to the premise that the first end of the civil unrest.

The town has been a scene of protests since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March.

Toner said the Syrian opposition is evolving and is coming together despite the pressure from the Assad regime.

Some of these reforms have, on paper, been implemented by al-Assad, but they were far too little and, by the time they came about, too late.

Some say Mr Assad and his closest allies should be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

It would be much better if Mr Assad were eased out by his compatriots and by fellow Arabs in the region.

The haven would be similar to that created for the Kurds in northern Iraq; Mr Assad would suffer only if he attacked it.

Another shows Mr Assad shielding his eyes in despair as he turns the calendar from Thursday to Friday, the usual day of protest.

Once again, it seems an Assad is trying to make an example of the defiant, religiously conservative Syrian city of Hama.

The world has so far hesitated to tell Mr Assad to go, afraid of what might fill the power vacuum.

Four days later, in Morocco, the league said it would impose sanctions if Mr Assad did not relent within three days.

Clinton said Syria has not been a major U. S. economic partner, and other countries could have a greater impact on the Assad regime.

In a speech a fortnight ago, Mr Assad repeatedly used the word "fitna" , an Arabic term for discord that often refers to religious dissent.

But the Turks, after cultivating Mr Assad's friendship, seem to have turned against him.

The Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said he was confident that Syria would emerge stronger and Mr Assad would remain as leader.

The United Nations says more than nine thousand people have been killed since the uprising against Mr. Assad began thirteen months ago.

Assad was not in good health and wanted to regain the Golan before he died, but he had to be careful.

March 26 - In an attempt to placate protesters, Assad frees 260 prisoners, and 16 more the next day.

We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way.

The military assault killed at least 35 people, dozens of them in Deraa, and sparked more condemnations of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Iraq's Shia-led government, which used to fear the prospect of a Sunni regime displacing Mr Assad and his Alawites, has become chillier.

But so far the Alawite-led army, with its array of privileges, has remained loyal to the defiant Mr Assad.

As stalemate prevails, from Iraq to Palestine, Mr Assad has slowly regained many of the cards he appeared to have lost.

Reports from Syria say at least 12 people have been killed in the latest protests calling for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.

Kerry said the discussion will focus on how to get Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to accept the reality of his situation.

Mr Assad seemed to be in denial about the extent and depth of the opposition to his regime.

Mr Assad might be more readily eased out of Syria if something more appealing than a tribunal at The Hague were on offer.

Officials at Durham University refused to say whether the institution has accepted money from the Assad regime in tuition fees.

Syria had no preconditions, answered Mr Assad on his own Paris visit, but rather rights that everyone recognised.

By recruiting key commanders from his minority Alawite sect and Sunni loyalists, Mr Assad controls the army and intelligence services.

Mr. Assad will think twice before trying to squash Christians.

Mr Assad would almost certainly attack such zones unless he were convinced that his own air defences and armour would be bombed.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on anti-government protesters has been leavened with at least verbal concessions to reform.

If I were an Arab monarch or a dictator like Bashar Assad of Syria, I'd certainly wouldn't be happy about what I've been watching in Cairo.

If Mr Bush continues to instruct Israel to rebuff Mr Assad's overtures, Mr Olmert will no doubt obey orders.

Mr Assad's opponents are a disparate bunch; there is no real national opposition and the demonstrators have no clear leaders.

Israeli officials claimed to see the hand of Iran or Syria's beleaguered president, Bashar Assad, in the Golan and Lebanon border incidents.

Assad's son, Bashar, who succeeded his father as Syria's president a decade ago, has yet to make his bones in such a way.

At least 20 protesters have been killed in Syria during mass demonstrations against President Assad.

Indeed, in an effort to emulate neighbouring Turkey, President Bashar Assad's government has posed as a regional champion of moderate Islam.

At least 5, 400 people have been killed in Syria as a result of Assad's brutal crackdown on the demonstrators.

There is no plausible expectation that Assad will lead a process of reform, one that inevitably forces him and his cronies out of business.

They believe that President Assad could still rise up to the challenge and enact real change.

Already there are signs Libya is giving inspiration to the rebels trying to oust Mr. Assad.

Bashar Assad, Syria's dictator, appears to have been signalling lately that he is willing to hold peace talks with Israel.

A few days later, President Assad's eldest son, whom he had groomed to succeed him, was killed in a car accident.

Assad's frailty and a stroke suffered by Foreign Minister Shara in the fall of 1999 heightened Barak's sense of urgency.

Within weeks, al-Assad was also made a member of the regional command for the ruling Baath Party, another requirement of succession.

Syria's president, Bashar Assad, he implied, could stop the violence with a click of his fingers.

the collapse in oil prices, plus rapidly dwindling Syrian production of the stuff, confronts Mr Assad with a fast-approaching budget crisis.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad seems to have a knack for making enemies and losing friends.

In fact Mr Assad let out a few hundred prisoners but ignored the other recommendations.

The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, has announced that long-standing emergency laws will be lifted in the next week.

As soon as the democracy bug began to spread earlier this year, Mr. Assad wavered between promises of reform and growls of repression.

The Obama administration has begun drawing up targeted financial sanctions against President Assad and senior members of his inner circle.

Assad insisted, however, that he would not implement change amid chaos.

Most worrying for Mr Assad, they also broke out on a large scale in the port city of Latakia, leaving another score of people dead.

If Mr. Obama imposes new sanctions on Syria, it will mark a break from his initial efforts of seeking rapprochement with Mr. Assad.

The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, has signed decrees ending nearly 50 years of emergency rule.

The protests against Bashar al-Assad in Syria have made Israel's northern borders unpredictable as well.

President Assad spoke to the parliament in Damascus, in a rare address broadcast widely across the Middle East.

After seven and a half months of protests, President Bashar Assad gave his first interview to an international media outlet.

"I think that this (Assad) regime has completely lost the world's trust, " he said.

And a free patch of Syria would be powerful evidence that Mr Assad's brutal days are numbered.

There was a time when Mr Assad promised something better.

Supporters of Assad pelted Ford with eggs on Thursday as he visited Hassan Abdul-Azim, an opposition figure in Damascus.

The most direct answer is to even up the fight by flooding Syria with arms or, perhaps, bombing Mr Assad's troops in their barracks.

Today's isolation is worse that at any point in the four decades of Assad rule, but the Syrian regime is used to being left out in the cold.

But, he added, "Then it has to deal with all the variants of what a fall looks like, and what a post-Assad Syria looks like. "

There may be time, yet, for Mr Assad to back down. If he did, the Arab spring really might turn into summer.

Moreover, Colonel Qaddafi is far more isolated and derided by his fellow Arabs than Mr. Assad is.

Mr Assad's response was to intensify his assaults against unarmed civilians, notably in the Mediterranean port of Latakia (see article).

Younger members of the elite hold parties into the early hours, singing pro-Assad slogans and gulping down drinks in nightclubs.

Above, a Syrian boy rides a tank alongside others waving the national flag and a soldier holding a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad.

Few believe their noisy declarations of love for the regime to be spontaneous, but Mr Assad undoubtedly enjoys support.

"He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this, " Mr. Kerry said of Mr. Assad.

Within minutes of Mr Assad finishing his speech, protesters were out in the streets of Homs, the country's third biggest city.

Even the United States, which under George Bush adopted an implacably hostile attitude to Mr Assad, has retracted some prickles.

Remember, some entertained hopes that Bashar al-Assad, a UK-trained ophthalmologist, would transform Syria when he became president.

"There was no reply on behalf of Assad, " he added.

Shia-led Iraq, an important neighbour to the east, which has feared the onset of a Sunni regime to replace Mr Assad's Alawites, abstained.

Mr Assad is once again pushing fears he has raised since the start of the uprising: that without his regime, Syria will descend into chaos.

Outrage at the killings and propaganda has been compounded by Mr Assad's defiant speech, which sorely disappointed his own reformers.

At home, Mr Assad reverted to his father's style after a brief flirtation with liberalism, and sent his critics to prison or exile.

If, as the protesters demand, this patronage system were ended, Mr Assad's hand would be severely weakened.

Rabin thought he could make a deal with Syrian president Hafez al-Assad before or soon after the Palestinian process was completed.

Others contend that Mrs Assad has been unable to fight the entrenched government resistance to promoting civil society.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after the summit that the aim of agreement was a government without President Assad.

Even so, his latest rebuke of President Assad, a man he considered a personal friend until a few months ago, was dramatic.

Assad's survival, is not powerful in global terms, having been serially swatted over the years by its Israeli neighbour.

In Damascus, Bashar al-Assad's brutal repression of his citizens has simply put him beyond the pale.

and the business class of Damascus and Aleppo, which has done quite well out of the Assad regime.

So far, Russia and China have blocked United Nations Security Council action to punish the Assad regime.

Unlike some of the region's monarchs, Mr Assad is finding it harder and harder to project an image of himself as being above the fray.

A key advisor to President Bashar al-Assad was also killed in the port city of Tartous, in August, but no one claimed responsibility.

Political dynasties develop, as in the case of the senior and junior Assad in Syria.

Mr Assad calls Syria the "hub" of the region, threatening "tens of Afghanistans" and an "earthquake" if outsiders tried to meddle.

The Arab League plan calls for Assad to withdraw troops and tanks from the streets, release detainees and talk to his opponents.

Mr Assad's repeated resort to violence has earned him the permanent distrust of most of his people.

Probably the most damaging factor in the long-term is the sectarian strategy that Mr Assad led personally.

A phone company controlled by the Assad family sent out messages urging people to put money back into their accounts.

President Assad sacked his cabinet two weeks ago, but that failed to stop the protests.

Instead Western powers are hoping that Mr Assad's cronies will begin to desert him as the international pressure mounts.

While there have been some changes during his rule, many say al-Assad's promises have largely not been delivered.

Many Syrians blame the president's brother, Maher Assad, who heads a crack army division, for the regime's excesses.

Albright and Ross then went to Damascus to urge President Assad to respond to Barak's desire for peace talks with him soon.

On the first issue, Assad hedged, saying the Lebanese talks should resume once some headway had been made on the Syrian track.

Sadly, in the short term and in a highly volatile region, at present Mr Assad remains the least worst option.

U. S. and European sanctions -- some directed at Assad and his top aides -- could make things worse for the cash-strapped country.

The Syrian opposition has rejected Assad's proposal and demanded again for him to step down.

Plastered with happy pictures of President Assad, tanks are still stationed watchfully on a grassy patch not far from the district.

Two years later, Bashar al-Assad is still President, the fighting hasn't stopped.

For Mr Assad, this was the impunity he needed to redouble the killing.

Moreover, Mr Assad is also feeling the heat of a failing economy.

The rebellion in Homs, Syria's third city and the biggest to be hit by sustained unrest, is the most significant challenge to Mr Assad.

A month or so back it seemed too much to expect Syria's Bashar Assad to go, too.

All this has upped the ante for Syria's president, Bashar Assad.

The ratcheting up of external pressure, especially from its Arab counterparts, worries Bashar Assad's regime.

Assad promised to consider the establishment of the Special Committee on Reform issues, including revision of the constitution.

Mr Assad is increasingly viewed as an essential part of the region's diplomatic jigsaw.

"They know that people did not elect Bashar al-Assad or the rest of his family, " says the Syrian political analyst.

Other figures, including the main presidential adviser, have tried to exculpate Mr Assad.

Activists say that with the current protests, however, al-Assad can no longer look away.

Reports that it is clear that the requirements of the United States for the first time al-Assad to step down.

Protesters now want more than the sorts of reforms Mr Assad has announced; calls for the end of the regime are getting louder.

A growing number of governments, including many in the region, have called on President Bashar Assad to make concessions.

In a co-ordinated move, the leaders of the UK, France and Germany also urged Mr Assad to go.

ON THURSDAY afternoon, Syria's president, Bashar Assad, announced the formation of a new cabinet.

It is an unequal battle: the tanks and heavy weaponry of Assad's troops against the Kalashnikovs of the FSA.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his government is in no danger of falling despite five months of street protests.

Protesters, who point out that it is not just Mr Assad but the whole regime that has to go, are prepared for the fight to continue.

The Obama administration estimates that the Assad regime has killed more than 2, 000 Syrians since the demonstrations began in March.

When Hafez Assad died after three decades as president of Syria, power passed smoothly to his son Bashar.

But Mr Assad's determined opponents are still handicapped by the lack of united opposition with any military and economic clout.

But today Mr Assad sent a different message, offering little in the way of change, but stoking the fear of what might replace him.

But Mr Assad, who has run Syria since his long-ruling father, Hafez, died in 2000, inherited a regime that has been just as nasty.

In Hama, where the president's father, Hafez Assad, suppressed an uprising in 1982, thousands protested in a square on May 27th.

Israeli fighter aircraft buzzed Mr Assad's beach house in a humiliating display of effortless aerial supremacy.

The Assad clan as a whole had concluded any change could unravel its rich financial interests in Lebanon.

The opposition protests represent the most serious threat to President Assad's 11-year-rule and the long-standing authority of his family.

Of all the Arab dictators, none has reacted to his people's call for freedom with more unbridled viciousness than Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

It may soon confound realists who think that for all his flaws, Mr Assad is preferable to the chaos that could engulf Syria in his absence.

But the Druze chieftain broke openly with Mr Assad's filial successor after the murder of Mr Hariri, an old ally.

Thankfully, it is too late for that, in spite of the murderous efforts of Bashir al-Assad's regime to silence protests in Syria.

Mr Assad's power is concentrated among his own Alawite sect, a Shia breakaway minority that numbers barely 6% of Syrians.

Homs and Hama (see article), Syria's third and fourth cities, are almost out of Mr Assad's control.

Nevertheless, Assad's army has checkpoints on the main roads and troops stationed in schools, hospitals and factories.

ANGER on the Syrian street is not just directed at President Bashar Assad and his regime. It is also being aimed at the opposition.

But Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has publicly urged Mr Assad to use "maximum self-restraint" in dealing with the protests.

Yet under Mr Assad Syria has no future.

Assad and his government responding with force, the Syria military started fighting the protesters.

But the deaths of his father and brother thrust a young Bashar al-Assad into power.

As for Syria, the fighting goes on, with Bashar Assad showing little sign of relenting to pressure, from wherever it may come.

The EU added Mr. Assad and other senior officials to a list banning them from traveling to the EU and freezing their European assets.

The United States should loudly denounce Assad and voice support his opponents.

When Hafez Assad died in 2000, some analysts speculated that his successor, son Bashar, might rule the country with a "lighter touch. "

The move indicates a hardening of the Obama administration's policy toward Mr. Assad, whose family has ruled the country for four decades.

Rather than engage seriously with the democratic opposition, Mr Assad seems ever more determined to crush it.

Assad to back down. If he did, the Arab spring really might turn into summer.

Liberals who hate the dictatorship of Bashar Assad in Syria fear that Islamists will emerge as the chief opposition to him.

Assad had received a lot of economic support from the former Soviet Union; that was gone now, so he needed to reach out to the West.

We are the servants of the people, unlike during the time of Assad when the people were his slaves.

Assad to keep his promise to liberalize Syria's repressive political system, signaling a hardening of Washington's position toward Damascus.

With Mr. Assad's hold on power appearing more tenuous by the day, the visit underscored Iran's increasingly dogmatic view of the conflict.

The EU and the U. S. also called on Mr. Assad to step down over the summer.

Mr. Assad accepted the resignations of his entire cabinet.

Heavy gunfire was heard in Deraa following an attempt by protesters to destroy a statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad.

President Assad made no public statement about the attack and his whereabouts was not immediately clear.

But it is likely to cause less bloodshed than joining the civil war directly or letting Mr Assad slaughter his people at will.

But if Turkey says it, if [Saudi Arabia's] King Abdullah says it, if other people say it, there is no way the Assad regime can ignore it.

Erdogan had been urging Assad to make domestic changes since before the uprising began in March.

Huge pro-Assad rallies have been charging round the capital for the past few nights.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist faction long headquartered in Damascus, has also quietly distanced itself from Mr Assad.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah held talks with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman in Beirut, Friday.

Still, Mr Jumblatt reconciled himself to Syria's then president, Hafez Assad, Bashar's father, for many years doing his bidding.

After the 70-minute speech, thousands of protesters took to the streets in several locales nationwide shouting for Assad to resign.

In Washington, state department spokesman Mark Toner said President Assad needed to take "concrete steps" .

Such talk is particularly loud online, where Syrian tweeters have voiced disdain for Turkey's attempts to get Mr Assad to end the bloodshed.

Qatar's foreign minister, in the forefront of opposition to Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, visited Mr Assad as an apparent gesture of support.

For Mahmoud, the decision by Russia and China to veto a recent resolution calling on Assad to stand aside was unforgivable.

But wily as he is, Mr Assad would be wrong to relax.

Syria has long had a single-party system led by the Ba'ath party of the Assad family.

Relatively few of Syria's Christian and Alawite minorities were there. Nor were any prominent defectors from Mr Assad's ruling Baath party.

But many Syrian opposition activists are skeptical that the mission can put real pressure on Assad to halt the violence.

President Assad now has a choice: he can lead that transition, or get out of the way.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said President Assad's position was becoming "less tenable" by the day.

Even diehard backers of the regime, who wave flags and posters exalting Mr Assad at street rallies, now talk of reform.

The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, but the country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.

Homs and Hama, Syria's third and fourth cities, are almost out of Mr Assad's control.

Egypt's Mubarak, Tunisia's Ben Ali, and Syria's Assad built brutal (and deeply illiberal) police states with strong secularist support.

With their anti-Assad, no-amnesty stance they seem just as unwilling to seek peace in Syria.

But Mr Assad has neglected those roots, favouring urbanites, including merchants and religious leaders.

After this week's concessions, Mr Assad can offer little more in the way of reform without demolishing his authoritarian regime.

Reports from Syria say government forces have stifled protests against President Assad in the centre of the country.

Syrian opposition groups ended a two-day meeting in Turkey on Thursday with the demand that President Bashar al-Assad step down.

He recalled during his confirmation hearing how President Assad once asked for his help.

Hama, where residents say they have pushed out the security forces and torn down posters of Mr Assad, was noticeably free of fighting.

Saad Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister, highlighted a rapprochement with Syria under President Bashar Assad.

Bush called upon Syrian President Bashir Assad to join in efforts to promote stability and "show leadership toward peace. "

President Assad is also coming under increased foreign pressure to stop the deadly crackdown.

Distressing, graphic video footage emerging from Deraa and Sanamein are casting Mr Assad's rule in a different, more brutal light.

In 2011, some Syrians were protesting their President Bashar al-Assad, they wanted him out of power.

Tuesday, President Bush said meetings with President Assad lead Syria to believe it is part of the mainstream.

The US government has been critical of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, and has called for his ouster.

The Russians have altered their tone since the assault on Hama, calling Mr Assad's use of force "unacceptable" .

The U. S. in preparing to issue sanctions against members of Mr. Assad's regime.

The king of Jordan, to the south, hitherto cautiously neutral, has bluntly told Mr Assad to go.

While expressing regret for civilian deaths during recent uprisings, Assad said Syria will come out stronger from the crisis.

But Assad shows no sign of heeding their calls for him to step down.

He has planned meetings in Damascus Friday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as well as Hamas' top leader Khaled Meshaal.

But the unrest has not prevented Mrs Assad from continuing to push her message for civic engagement.

There has been wide anticipation that Mr. Assad would address the issues of internal dissent in a public address.

The Syrian opposition has announced it's formed a national council to present a united common front against its president Assad.

The Assad regime is estimated to derive roughly a third of its revenue from oil sales to Europe.

They endorsed NATO's intervention in Libya. They are now unequivocally backing the opposition to the Assad regime in neighbouring Syria.

America has so far refrained from calling for Mr Assad's ouster.

Pelosi met Wednesday in Damascus with Mr. Assad -- despite President Bush's criticism of the visit.

Mr Assad looked nervous as he talked for over an hour.

But as Mr. Assad proved, it is still a far too potent weapon for autocrats and extremists.

They say another was killed in the city of Homs as demonstrators once again demanded President Assad's resignation.

The speech, Mr Assad's third since the unrest began, gave little new.

As things stand, Mr Assad will surely reject all such ideas out of hand.

Mr. Assad said that since he believes Israel will not change its policies, Arabs must defend the Palestinian cause.

Earlier, Syria's state television broadcast images of rallies supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

After several failed attempts, President Assad's opponents have finally created a single body, the Syrian National Council.

Arab countries remain ominously silent about the Syrian government's actions but France has now declared Mr Assad's rule illegitimate.

Bashar Assad, Syria's president, lifted the decades-old emergency law and promised to free political prisoners.

And since Syria's protesters have started to express their democratic yearning, Mr Assad has been matching Colonel Qaddafi's brutality.

For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside.

The leaders are thought to be Munzer and Fawwaz Assad, first cousins of President Bashar Assad.

Most Syrians are Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.