The Syrian foreign ministry on Tuesday warned the EU against using frozen Damascus assets to finance the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal, a mission led by world bodies.
At a time when the official Syrian delegation is holding negotiations with the opposition coalition to reach a political solution to the crunching crisis in the country, the government works to prepare suitable climates for Syrian businessmen to return to the country to perk up the devastating economy.
Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday described the UN Security Council's draft resolution on Syria as "counterproductive" and the ideas proposed by Western partners as "absolutely one-sided and detached from reality."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Tuesday said he has expressed concern to the Syrian government of its "now behind schedule" elimination of chemical weapon and said it was "imperative" Damascus "intensify its efforts."
Turkey's southern Cilvegozu border gate reopened on Thursday just days after two vehicles exploded in Syria's Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Monday, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.
A UN-backed international conference started Wednesday at the Swiss lakeside city of Montreux, aiming to end a three-year-long conflict in Syria.
The international conference on Syria opened Wednesday was shadowed by clashes and accusations on the first day.
Dismayed by developments over a Syrian peace conference slated for Montreux, Switzerland later this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decided Monday it would proceed without Iran, despite his earlier invitation extended to Tehran.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday that he had invited Iran to attend this week's Syria peace conference in Switzerland, also known as Geneva II.
Syria's main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), announced here it would attend the Geneva II peace conference after holding a secret vote on its participation on Saturday.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took part Sunday evening in a religious mass to commemorate the birth of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Syria's main opposition group postponed deciding whether to participate in the Geneva II peace conference, as radical groups engage in bitter infighting besides their insurgency against the Syrian government.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday is sending invitations for the Geneva II conference, calling it "a unique opportunity for ending the violence" in Syria.
Syria's long-term crisis has displaced more than 450,000 Christian Syrians and killed more than a thousand of them, Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of the Church of Antioch and all East, told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.
Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has dismissed allegations that his country exported war weapons to Syria in 2013, stressing that Turkish companies exported only sports-related rifles and guns to the war-torn country.
The Syrian troops on Tuesday scored a new strategic victory against the rebels in the northern countryside of capital Damascus, as Moscow is witnessing a flurry of diplomatic activities aimed at paving the way for a successful peace conference on the Syrian crisis in Geneva.
Syrian military jets on Thursday launched three air raids on the outskirts of Lebanon's Arsal border town in the east Bekaa, a local security source said.
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