US Jewish leader met Syria's Assad

American conservatives and Jewish leaders are up in arms over former vice-president Al Gore’s sale of Current TV to Al-Jazeera, accusing the noted climate change activist of everything from hypocrisy to lining his pockets with cash from anti-Americans. Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh has been at the forefront of the attacks, pointing out that Gore sold his pet cable network to an Arab news giant owned by the royal family of oil-rich Qatar, an OPEC regime.

Russia has deployed upwards of a dozen ships to its naval base in Syria over the past three months, and recently sent advanced anti-ship missiles to the embattled Syrian government, highlighting the depth of Moscow’s commitment to the Assad regime and the challenges in finding an internationally palatable solution to the crisis.

Israeli military official says Assad has used chemical arms in civil war

BEIRUT — In another blow to President Bashar Assad, his commander of military police defected. The defector, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, is one of the most senior members of Assad’s inner circle to join the opposition during the 21-month-old uprising against authoritarian rule. He appeared in a video aired on Al-Arabiya TV late Tuesday saying the army has been turned into a gang to kill and destroy.

The international envoy to Syria said after talks with the country’s leader Monday that the situation was “worrying” and gave no indication of progress toward a negotiated solution for the civil war. Lakhdar Brahimi’s mission came as activists reported intense fighting in the central province of Hama, where anti-government gunmen entered the predominantly Alawite town of Maan. Assad’s regime is dominated by members of his minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam, while most of the rebels are Sunni Muslims.

Two figures at the centre of drawn-out efforts to form a new Iraqi government, former premier Iyad Allawi and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, met in Syria's capital on Monday.President Bashar al-Assad also held talks with Allawi, who has been embroiled in months of haggling to reach a deal on a new coalition government in Baghdad, two days after the Syrian leader met separately with Sadr.

Two figures at the centre of efforts to form a new Iraqi government, former premier Iyad Allawi and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, met in Syria's capital on Monday, an AFP photographer said.President Bashar al-Assad too held talks with Allawi, who has been embroiled in months of haggling over the formation of a new Iraqi government, two days after the Syrian leader met separately with Sadr.

Many of the latest reports out of Syria indicate that President Bashar al-Assad has regained the upper hand against the rebels. And the UN special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said as much on Tuesday when he acknowledged that the regime "may be able to hold onto power for now."