Bashar Assad

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This file photo released on July 19, 2020, on the official Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency, shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and his wife Asma voting at a polling station in the parliamentary elections, in Damascus, Syria. (Syrian Presidency via AP, File)

Syrian president, wife test positive for the coronavirus

Associated Press

Russia and West clash over Syria chemical weapons sanctions

By EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press

FILE - This Wednesday, March 21, 2018 file photo shows the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, Netherlands. The global chemical weapons watchdog says that two investigations into alleged attacks in Syria in 2016 and 2018 couldn't establish that chemical weapons were used in either case. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons issued two reports Friday, Oct. 2, 2020 by its Fact-Finding Mission into attacks in Saraqib in the Idlib region on Aug. 1, 2016, and in Aleppo on Nov. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Chemical weapons watchdog criticizes Syria over 19 issues

By EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press

FILE - In this July 24, 2019 file photo, then Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad speaks to reporters in Damascus, Syria. President Bashar Assad issued a decree on Sunday Nov. 22, 2020, naming Mekdad as the new foreign minister replacing Walid al-Moallem, a long time diplomat who held the post for more than a decade until he passed away last week. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Syria’s Assad names new FM to replace late diplomat

Associated Press

In this March 26, 2000, file photo, U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, shakes hands with Syrian President Hafez Assad, at the opening of their meeting, in Geneva, Switzerland. On Nov. 13, 1970, Assad a young career air force officer launched a bloodless coup. Fifty years later, Hafez Assad’s family still rules Syria. The country is in ruins from a decade of civil war that killed around a half million people, displaced half the population and virtually wiped out the economy. But Hafez’s son, Bashar Assad, has an unquestioned grip on what remains. (AP Photo/Laurent Gillieron, File)

In ruins, Syria marks 50 years of Assad family rule

By Zeina Karam - Associated Press

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, the Russian President's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev virtually addresses the opening session of a two-day international conference organized by Russia on the return of refugees, in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. The Syrian government is working to secure the return of millions of refugees who fled war in their country, but Western sanctions are hindering the work of state institutions, complicating those plans, President Bashar Assad said Wednesday. (SANA via AP)

Assad blames West for hindering return of refugees to Syria

By ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin, listens to Syrian President Bashar Assad, right on screen, during their talks via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia’s Putin says time for Syrian refugees to return home

By ALBERT AJI - Associated Press

Assad blames Syria’s current economic woes on Lebanese banks

Associated Press

Oman reinstates ambassador to Syria after years-long hiatus

Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2020 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Damascus, Syria. Assad interrupted a speech he was giving to Parliament after he suffered a brief drop in blood pressure, the Syrian presidency said Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. The presidency said the apparently pre-recorded speech was halted for “several minutes” because of a “mild” case of low blood pressure he suffered, after which he continued the speech as normal. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Syria: President Assad suffers brief drop in blood pressure

Associated Press

This photo provided by the official Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency, shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, and Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, left, both wearing masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP)

US slaps sanctions on Syrian president’s eldest son

Associated Press

In this photo released on the official Facebook page of Syrian Presidency, Syrian President Bashar Assad casts his ballot in the parliamentary elections, as his wife Asma, stands next to him, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, July 19, 2020. Syrians headed to polling stations in government-held parts of the war-torn country on Sunday to elect a new parliament amid strict health measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus amid an increase of cases in recent days. (Syrian Presidency via AP)

Syrians vote for new parliament amid measures against virus

By ALBERT AJI - Associated Press

Iran signs agreement to bolster Syria’s air defense systems

Associated Press

Laure Ghosn, whose husband Charbel Zogheib has been missing for the past 37 years, speaks as she holds their wedding portrait during an interview at her home in Sarba, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Ghosn said her husband is held in Syria and hopes that a new wave of sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the Syrian government will force Damascus to reveal the fate of hundreds of Lebanese citizens held in Syria, including that of her husband. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Families of Syria detainees hope for news amid US sanctions

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

Laure Ghosn, whose husband Charbel Zogheib has been missing for the past 37 years, speaks as she holds their wedding portrait during an interview at her home in Sarba, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Ghosn said her husband is held in Syria and hopes that a new wave of sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the Syrian government will force Damascus to reveal the fate of hundreds of Lebanese citizens held in Syria, including that of her husband. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Families of Syria detainees hope for news amid US sanctions

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his inner circle with a raft of new economic and travel sanctions for human rights abuses. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Syrian Kurdish region increases salaries amid currency crash

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press

In this Feb. 10, 2015, file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad gestures during an interview in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)

U.S. launches new sanctions on Syria aimed at squeezing Bashar Assad’s power

By Lauren Toms - The Washington Times

The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his inner circle with a raft of new economic and travel sanctions for human rights abuses. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Syria sanctions aimed at removing Bashar Assad from power

By Lauren Toms - The Washington Times

In this Jan. 13, 2010, file photo, Syrian employees stack packets of Syrian currency in the Central Syrian Bank in, Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Looming U.S. sanctions shake Syria, hasten economic meltdown

By Bassem Mroue - Associated Press

FILE - In this July 25, 2006, file photo, Lebanese refugees at the Syrian-Lebanese border crossing at Jdaidet Yabous talk with their relatives in Lebanon through mobile phones provided free by Syrian telecommunication company Syriatel. The unprecedented public crackdown on Syria's wealthiest businessman Rami Makhlouf, a close cousin of Bashar Assad, comes as the embattled president seeks to consolidate power and rein in war profiteers. Syria is preparing for a new phase of economic hardship and U.S.-led sanctions that some say might be more difficult to weather than war. (AP Photo/ Bassem Tellawi, File)

Syria’s Assad seeks to control economy, goes after cousin

By SARAH EL DEEB - Associated Press