Anti-government Protest, Bashar Assad | featured news

Security forces were out in force in Damascus on Sunday as rebels plan a repeat of protests that have threatened President Assad's grip on the capital.

The Obama administration is trying to avoid a repeat of what happened in Iraq, where the United States was not fully prepared for the aftermath of a leader’s fall.

Syrian troops killed at least 17 people Friday in raids on anti-government protesters, activists said, but failed to stop thousands from pouring into streets nationwide and taking their uprising against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic rule into a seventh month.

Security forces in the Syrian capital of Damascus intensify checkpoints and patrols to keep an overnight surge of protests from spreading into the heart of the city, a stronghold for President Bashar Assad.

The downfall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is likely to pave the way for increased Western attention to Syria and embolden protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

President Barack Obama called directly Thursday for Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign, saying the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters makes the heir to a long Middle East family dictatorship unfit to lead....

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Beset by civil unrest at home and lambasted by the West and his Arab neighbors for his violent crackdown on dissent, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad can count on one firm ally: Iran.

A global campaigning organization says that almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad more than four months ago. A survey by the online activist group Avaaz.org estimates that one person is disappearing in Syria every hour. The group released the survey results in a statement on Thursday.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

The hotbed of opposition to the regime of President Bashar Assad is surrounded by Syrian troops and tanks, apparently poised for an assault. Protests have risen dramatically in Hama, a city loaded with political symbolism.