Bashar Assad

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FILE - This Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, shows U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jamie Jarrard left, thanks Manbij Military Council commander Muhammed Abu Adeel near the town of Manbij, northern Syria. As Syrian troops and their allies push toward final victory and the battle against Islamic State militants draws to an end, new fronts are opening up, threatening an even broader confrontation. The U.S., Israel and Turkey all have deepened their involvement, seeking to protect their interests in the new Syria order. (AP Photo/Susannah George, File)

New fronts emerge in Syria as Assad, allies push for victory

By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press

FILE - In this Monday, Nov 25, 2013, file photo, technicians inspect an Israeli air force F-16 jet at the Ovda airbase near Eilat, southern Israel. The Israeli military says it has shot down an Iranian drone that infiltrated the country and has struck Iranian targets in Syria that launched it. The military says that as part of the unusual event one of its F-16 jets crashed in northern Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

Israel strikes Syria, downs Iranian drone, as F-16 crashes

By ARON HELLER and SARAH EL DEEB - Associated Press

FILE - This Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 file photo, Turkey-backed opposition fighters of the Free Syrian Army secure a checkpoint at the village of Maarin, on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Azaz, Syria. Beaten by the government and squeezed by al-Qaida, many of Syria's rebels have put themselves under Turkey's wing to battle Kurdish forces, trying to find a path back to relevance in Syria's messy and multi-sided civil war. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

Syrian rebels seek relevance by joining Turkey’s offensive

By PHILIP ISSA and SARAH EL DEEB - Associated Press

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House, in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

U.S. airstrike on Syrian forces spurs fears of ‘mission creep’

By Guy Taylor and Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows men pulling a survivor from the rubble after airstrikes hit a rebel-held suburb near Damascus, Syria, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Syrian opposition activists said more than one dozen people killed in new airstrikes. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Airstrikes outside Syrian capital kill at least 19 civilians

By Philip Issa - Associated Press

Restaurant workers and police stand following a rocket attack, fired from inside Syria, in the border town of Kilis, Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018. Kilis and the town of Reyhanli, both of which border Afrin, Syria, have been the target of multiple rocket attacks that have killed at least four people, including a teenage girl and injured dozens of others. Turkey launched a cross-border offensive into Afrin on Jan. 20 to clear the enclave of Syrian Kurdish militia which Ankara considers to be &quot;terrorists.&quot; (Can Erok/DHA-Depo Photos via AP)

U.S. says Syria making new chemical weapons despite 2013 deal

By JOSH LEDERMAN - Associated Press

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said the Trump administration has an open-ended commitment to remain in parts of Syria to contain Islamic State. (Associated Press/File)

Donald Trump’s Syria policy raises tensions

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

In this photo taken from the Russian Defence Ministry Press Service Facebook page on Tuesday, Jan. 9 2018, one of the drones that was forced to land after an unsuccessful attack attempt sits at a table at Hemeimeem air base in Syria. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces repelled a series of drone attacks on the Hemeimeem air base and a naval facility in Tartus, adding that such attacks would have required assistance from a country possessing satellite navigation technology — a statement that appeared to be aimed at the United States. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

Russian gains in Syria threatened by series of rebel attacks

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV - Associated Press

In this frame grab from video released Monday Jan. 1, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, Syrians evacuate a boy from a building by using a ladder after an airstrike hit the Damascus suburb of Masraba, Syria. Opposition activists are reporting heavy clashes between government forces and insurgents east of Damascus, and at least a dozen airstrikes. (Syrian Civil Defense, via AP)

State media says Syrian president reshuffles government

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Syrian President Bashar Assad watch the troops marching at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria in this Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, file photo. Nearly seven years into the conflict, the war in Syria seems on one level to be winding down, largely because of Russian-backed government victories and local cease-fires aimed at freezing the lines of conflict. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Syria rebels, opposition reject Russia-proposed talks

By Sarah El Deeb - Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo taken Sunday, July 5, 2015, Uighurs living in Turkey and Turkish supporters, chant slogans as they hold a Chinese flag before burning it during a protest near China's consulate in Istanbul, against what they call oppression by Chinese government to Muslim Uighurs in far-western Xinjiang region. Since 2013, thousands of Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from western China, have traveled to Syria to train and fight alongside al-Qaida, playing key roles in several battles. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

AP Exclusive: Uighurs fighting in Syria take aim at China

By GERRY SHIH - Associated Press

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday Dec. 19, 2017. (Philippe Wojazer, Pool via AP)

Macron slams Assad for comments on France supporting terror

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN - Associated Press

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking to employees of Rostec Corporation during an awarding ceremony at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside in Moscow, Russia. The Tass news agency says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at a Russian military air base in Syria on Monday, Dec. 11, 2017. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Putin declares victory on visit to air base in Syria

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV - Associated Press

In this Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 frame grab made available by Russian Rossiya 24 TV Channel Sergei Surovikin, Russian Commander in Syria, 3rd left, reports to President Vladimir Putin, right, as Syrian President Bashar Assad, 4th left, listens, at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria. Declaring a victory in Syria, Putin on Monday visited a Russian military air base in the country and announced a partial pullout of Russian forces from the Mideast nation (Rossiya 24 TV Channel photo via AP)

Vladimir Putin praises Russian military in Syria visit, announces partial withdrawal

By Vladimir Isachenkov - Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo taken on Saturday, June 18, 2016, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, center, visits the Hemeimeem air base in Syria. Syria's long-running civil war may be winding down, but even if the conflict ends, Syria is a changed country with a dizzying array of local militias and thousands of foreign troops, some of whom may never leave. (Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service pool photo via AP, File)

Thousands of foreign troops in Syria — but will they leave?

By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press

Syrian President Bashar Assad's reputation in the west is shattered, his nation is a smoldering ruin and around half the country is controlled by domestic and foreign militias. But through it all, Assad appears to have survived the war, strangely holding on to his seat in at least the near-term. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP, File)

Bashar Assad has no role in postwar Syria: Turkey PM Binali Yildirim says

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times

Yildirim

Binali Yildirim says Bashar Assad must go in any peace accord

The Washington Times

Iranian agreements with Syria to keep forces in the country indefinitely would bring Tehran closer to its goal of securing a corridor from the Iranian border through Iraq all the way to the Mediterranean. That would give Iran unhindered land access to its allies in Syria and Lebanon for the first time. (Associated Press/File)

Iran’s Syria plan hints at Shiite ‘Red Crescent’ goal

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Syrian President Bashar Assad's reputation in the west is shattered, his nation is a smoldering ruin and around half the country is controlled by domestic and foreign militias. But through it all, Assad appears to have survived the war, strangely holding on to his seat in at least the near-term. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP, File)

The Latest: Russian military to keep its assets in Syria

Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) met Monday with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who thanked him for "saving Syria" with the help of the Russian military. (Associated Press)

Russia’s Putin not likely to give up involvement in Syria

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV - Associated Press