A CYPRIOT officer from the National Guard will be sent to Syria to join a team of UN military observers already stationed in the volatile neighbouring country.  According to defence ministry sources, the cabinet has decided to approve a request from the UN Secretary-General for Cyprus to send an observer to the beleaguered country. The Cypriot National Guardsman will go once the necessary preparations are made and will stay in Syria for as long as is needed, said the source.   According to Associated Press, the head of the UN observer team in Syria, Norwegian Major General Robert Mood, said yesterday that no amount of observers in Syria can achieve a permanent end to the violence if there is no dialogue between the warring sides... Read on

CYPRUS IS situated in a region characterised by its “fragile security” following the Arab Spring of revolts against authoritarian rulers in the Middle East and North Africa, said regional experts yesterday. Addressing a conference organised by the University of Nicosia and Russian Embassy on the new threats and challenges for regional security in the eastern Mediterranean, Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Shumskiy spoke of the political volatility in the region. ... Read on

A GERMAN freighter thought to be transporting munitions to Syria was zig-zagging in international waters, some 80 kilometres off Cyprus’ coast over the weekend changing course on Monday to head towards Turkey, Cyprus authorities said yesterday.German magazine Der Spiegel, which broke the story on Saturday, reported that the ship was carrying munitions and heavy military reinforcements for Syria despite an EU arms embargo imposed on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis said on Saturday that the ship would not be permitted to approach the island.She told state broadcaster CyBC yesterday morning that the ship was in international waters some 80 kilometres away from Cyprus’ coast... Read on

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has asked the U.N. Security Council for support in implementing an April 10 deadline for Syria to partially implement his peace plan, with a full ceasefire within 48 hours thereafter, envoys said on Monday.Annan told the 15-nation council behind closed doors that Syria has agreed to the idea of such a deadline, which would include the end of troop movements toward population centers, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and a start to the withdrawal of troops, U.N. diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity... Read on

Syrian forces pounded the battered city of Homs with tank and mortar fire and troops pummelled several other rebel strongholds on Saturday, leaving at least 24 dead, opposition activists said.With the bloodshed showing no signs of abating, the U.N.-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, flew to Moscow, seeking Russian backing for his efforts to secure a ceasefire.Western and Arab states want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down but Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, has put the onus on the armed rebels and their foreign backers to make the first move... Read on

The European Union banned the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from travelling to the EU or shopping with European companies in a move to stop her buying the Chanel dresses and Louboutin shoes she apparently craves.The EU's latest round of sanctions, which also targeted the president's mother and sister, is notable for including Assad's London-born wife Asma, whose luxury shopping habit was laid bare this month in a cache of hacked emails.She was once admired for her cosmopolitan glamour, but has over the past year turned into a hate figure for many Syrians, standing by her husband as he conducts a crackdown against a popular uprising in which thousands have been killed... Read on

The U.N. Security Council, including Russia and China, threw its weight on Wednesday behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.In a statement approved by all its 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified "further steps" if it failed to comply with Annan's peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.Although the original statement was diluted at Russia's demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all world powers signed up to the proposal dealt a serious blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising... Read on

The moment Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat chose to depict President Bashar al-Assad and his "inner circle" in his drawings, he knew he was courting trouble.The 60-year-old, famous across the Arab world and beyond for bitingly satirical works ridiculing corruption, nepotism and narrow-mindedness, had always avoided identifying individuals in his art.That was until a few months before the uprising against Assad began last year, at which point Farzat felt the president had gone too far in stifling freedom of expression and crushing dissent. That's when it got personal... Read on

Rebels fought government forces in Damascus on Monday, in the most violent gun battles the Syrian capital has seen since the start of the year-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists said.The clashes near the centre of Assad's power base appeared to be an attempt by rebels, who have been forced out of Homs and Idlib and came under attack in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Monday, to show they still pose a serious challenge.Fighting erupted after midnight in the upmarket al-Mezze district when up to six rebels fired a rocket propelled grenade at the house of an army general, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)... Read on

Two explosions struck the heart of Damascus on Saturday, killing at least 27 people in an attack on security installations that state television blamed on "terrorists" seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Cars packed with explosives targeted the criminal police headquarters and an air security intelligence centre at 7.30 a.m. (0530 GMT), television said, shredding the facade of one building and sending debris flying through the streets.Gruesome images from the sites showed what appeared to be smouldering bodies in two separate vehicles, a wrecked minivan smeared with blood, and severed limbs collected in sacks.At least 27 people were killed and 140 wounded, an interior ministry statement said... Read on