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Abdulrahman al-Masri

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Canada. His work covers politics and news in the Middle East and Syria in particular. He analyses international politics and the crises in the region, bringing attention to the way that foreign interests influence conflicts.

 

Items by Abdulrahman al-Masri

  • A no-fly zone is sorely needed for Aleppo

    The current situation in Aleppo is catastrophic. The residents of the ancient Syrian city are bombarded continuously by internationally-prohibited barrel bombs and deadly rockets by the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad and the ruthless air strikes of his Russian allies. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR),...

  • Five years on: Moscow rises, US retreats and Syrians continue to suffer

    Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Syrian uprising. Five years ago, Syrians took to the streets to demand freedom and reforms after decades of the brutal rule of the Baath regime. None of the revolutionaries would have predicted that Syria’s experience of the Arab Spring would evolve into...

  • An end to regime atrocities is needed to pave the way for peace talks

    After several delays, the new round of Syria peace talks began in Geneva on Friday. So far, none of the parties involved in the talks have expressed optimism about a positive outcome. The delegation from the Syrian opposition did not attend the first day in any case, stating that...

  • Assad remains the least interested in peace

    A new phase of political negotiations were supposed to start in Geneva today, 25 January, between representatives of the Syrian opposition and the Assad regime, as part of the UN-brokered peace talks which aim to bring the nearly five-year-old war to an end. The talks, however, were postponed while...

  • Obama’s decision to send ground troops to Syria is a bluff

    At the end of October, US President Barack Obama authorised the Pentagon to send special-operation forces to Syria to “train, advise and assist” rebel forces on the ground in the fight against the extremist group; Daesh. This month, the Pentagon will deploy up to 50 US special-operation troops to battlefields...

  • Obama in limbo while Putin strikes US-backed Syrian rebels

    The United States has failed to protect its allies in Syria. Russia’s airstrikes, which aim to empower the embattled dictator Bashar Al-Assad, have killed any hope for a political resolution to the conflict. Regional powers, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are likely to respond with military force to counter...

  • Strengthened US-Turkey relations solidify Ankara's new strategy in Syria

    “We target those who target Turkey,” said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Monday, in reference to his country’s change in posture in the Syrian war. Turkey initiated its first airstrikes on ISIS last week, declaring war against the extremist militia and demonstrating an utterly new strategy towards its war-torn...

  • Is there 'systematic ethnic cleansing' by Kurds in north-east Syria?

    Multiple reports last week suggested that “systemic ethnic cleansing” is being carried out by forces of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) against Arab and Turkmen communities living in north-east Syria. The allegations have yet to be confirmed, but a coalition of fifteen armed opposition groups expressed their concern...

  • Does Syria’s new rebel coalition wait on Western support?

    Simultaneously with the emergence of a new coalition of rebel groups, the Syrian regime has suffered major loses in the past two months. The notable advancement of Jaish Al-Fatah (“Army of Conquest”), a newly-founded operational unification of Islamist rebel factions in north-western Syria, has caused the Assad forces to...

  • Possible Turkey-Saudi alliance against Assad is surrounded by hopes and challenges

    Multiple reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is holding high-level talks with Turkey to discuss the possibility of creating a joint force with the objective of military intervention in Syrian against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. So far, the talks have not come up with a plan of action, and...

  • 'ISIS and Nusra are one' in Yarmouk Camp

    The extremist group of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), along with the Nusra Front, are controlling eighty to ninety percent of the Yarmouk Camp in south Damascus, an activist and resident of the camp told Middle East Monitor on Saturday morning. Multiple reports from the Yarmouk Camp,...

  • Endless chemical attacks in Syria but useless international action

    Helicopters from Bashar Al-Assad’s regime attacked the Syrian village of Sarmin in Idlib province last week, dropping barrel bombs filled with chlorine gas that killed at least six people and wounded dozens more, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and pro-opposition Local Coordination Committees reported. “There is extreme fear and...

  • Syria: Proxy war, not civil war

    More than 4 years have passed since the Syrian people took to the streets demanding freedom, dignity, and social justice- simply their basic human rights. The regime’s response towards the uprising has been incomprehensible and horrific, and to date has resulted in the killing of more than 200 thousand...

  • Exclusive Interview with Vice President of the Syrian National Coalition Hisham Marwah

    A “roadmap” for Syria drafted by the Syrian National Coalition, Syria’s main political opposition body based in Istanbul, and the National Coordination Committee, an opposition group based in Damascus, was approved last Friday. According to the Coalition, the initial draft of the agreement was developed to address “the urgent need...

  • Jordan vs ISIS: What is the next phase?

    A 22-mintue video published by the group of the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the murder of  Jordanian pilot. The video showed disturbing images of 26-year-old First Lieutenant Muath Al-Kasasbeh burned alive. Jordan has officially confirmed the death of its pilot. In...

  • Russia's stance on Syria creates scepticism towards vague peace initiative

    As the world welcomed the start of 2015, Syria marked the 4th year since the start of the revolution in 2011, that political movement-turned-conflict that has paralysed the Syrian people. In these four years, a number of political solutions have been proposed to put a stop to the war...

  • Is there a possible deal on Syria between the US and Turkey?

    The relationship between the United Sates and Turkey has long been strained by disparity in each country’s intentions and responses to the current war in Syria. In recent weeks, the tension has heightened between Ankara and Washington as both countries have had to make definitive decisions regarding their response...

  • The war against ISIS: what happens next?

    Since the United States and its Arab allies initiated their first airstrikes against the “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Syria, the people of that troubled land, neighbouring countries and global observers have yet to see a clear strategy regarding the intervention. It remains uncertain how the Obama administration plans to...

  • Hezbollah's dilemma in Syria and the spillover to Lebanon

    The intervention of the Shia Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in support of the Assad regime in Syria has effectively exacerbated political tensions within Lebanon. The Lebanese media has been largely focused on the conflict spillover from Syria. News coverage has been directed at events associated with the Syrian conflict: the...

  • Is there a US response to the evidence of torture in Syria?

    Further evidence has been provided to the United States government on the Assad regime’s crimes against humanity, yet still, no accountability has been addressed by the Obama administration. A Syrian military police photographer anonymously called “Caesar” appeared on Thursday in a briefing in front of the House Foreign Affairs...

  • The delivery of aid in Syria: The UN vs. Al-Assad

    Syrians welcome the United Nations’ Security Council’s new resolution with a combination of relief, skepticism and concern. The resolution calls for the delivery of aid to Syria’s rebel-held areas without the government’s approval. “We have begun to view any step by the international community with suspicion,” said Omar Hamza, the...

  • Turkey's control of the Euphrates might lead to disaster

    Criticism of the Turkish government has been voiced by civil society activists in Northern Syria concerning Turkey’s control of the River Euphrates. In recent weeks, the Turks have stopped the flow of water into Syria from the mighty river, which has its source in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains before flowing...

  • What’s next for Jordan’s policy towards Syria?

    The Jordanian authorities expelled the Syrian ambassador to Amman last week, ordering him to leave the country within 24 hours. Jordanian officials insist that the expulsion was based on the ambassador’s actions, not in reaction to tension with the Assad regime. Hours after the announcement, the Syrian National Coalition...

  • Tensions over Al-Qaeda efforts for influence in south Syria

    Resistance to Al-Nusra Front (JAN), Al-Qaeda’s wing in Syria, has begun to escalate its efforts in the southern province of Daraa, after the group arrested moderate rebel leaders last week, among them the head of the Daraa Military Council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Ahmad Al-Nemeh, a former air...