BBC The Syrian authorities have made no mention of troop withdrawals from urban areas Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Divisions laid bare Opposition disunity Guide: Syria Crisis Year of protest A ceasefire for Syria proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to come into force in the next few hours, but Western countries have publicly doubted Syria's willingness to comply. On Wednesday, Syria said it would abide by the ceasefire but reserved the right to respond to attacks. The US said Syria's pledge held "little if any credibility". The main armed rebel group said it would not stop shooting if government troops continued to attack. Mr Annan received written assurances from the Syrian foreign ministry that government troops would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT)... while reserving t...

BBC One woman told Paul Wood how two of her brothers were detained, and one was killed Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Escape from Homs Guide to opposition Civil war? Syrians flee Thousands of Syrians have recently crossed into Lebanon, the UN says, amid reports that security forces are committing atrocities in Syria. The UN refugee agency said as many as 2,000 people fled in the past two days. A resident of the opposition stronghold of Homs told the BBC that soldiers had slit the throat of her 12-year-old son. Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian chief said she had now been allowed to travel to Syria and would call for "unhindered access for humanitarian aid". Valerie Amos said she planned to go to Syria on Wednesday. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also due to visit Syria at the weekend as joint special envoy for the UN and the Arab League. On Wednes...

Aljazeera On Listening Post this week: Tug of War - competing media narratives in the Syrian uprising. Plus, the struggle over internet freedom in India, the world's largest democracy. As fighting in Syria continues, so does the media's battle to tell the story. This month, four journalists were killed while reporting from the besieged city of Homs. In their absence, making sense of the story means making sense of shaky sources of information: the al-Assad government spinning the story its way, through outlets the state controls; the often nameless, faceless activists getting information out via the web and, increasingly, the Free Syrian Army, a loosely affiliated group of disparate voices which some say is a media construct itself. Our News Divide this week looks at Syria and the polarised media narratives making it hard to find the middle ground. In our News Bytes this week: President Rafael Correa has pardoned three newspaper executives and a columnist who...

(CNN) -- Two French journalists who had been trapped for days in the besieged Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr have been moved to safety in Lebanon, officials said Thursday. "I can confirm that it's official," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told BFM-TV about the whereabouts of Edith Bouvier and William Daniels. "They are in security." In a statement, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said they were being looked after by the French Embassy, "and everything is being done to provide them with medical attention and to return them home as quickly as possible." Bouvier was wounded in an attack last week on a makeshift media center in Baba Amr that killed French journalist Remi Ochlik and U.S. journalist Marie Colvin. (CNN) -- Two French journalists who had been trapped for days in the besieged Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr have been moved to safety in Lebanon, officials said Thursday. "I can confirm that it's official," French Presi...

BBC An activist in the Syrian city of Homs has said the Free Syrian Army has left the embattled district of Baba Amr Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Referendum in media spotlight Syrians flee Tribute to Colvin Guide to opposition The Red Cross is due to enter the Baba Amr district of the Syrian city of Homs on Friday to deliver food and medical supplies after a month-long siege. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is to enter the area with the Syrian Red Crescent, and is also planning to evacuate the wounded. The area has suffered heavy bombardment by government forces in recent weeks. The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) said on Thursday it was leaving the district in a "tactical withdrawal". The FSA said 4,000 civilians had refused to leave their homes and it was withdrawing to save them from an all-out assault. Of the 100,000 people who norma...

CNN (CNN) -- As the total death toll in Syria climbed past 7,500, according to U.N. estimates, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could be tried for war crimes. However, Clinton said Tuesday, pursuing charges against al-Assad might hinder efforts to persuade him to cede power. The United Nations has credible reports that "the death toll now often exceeds 100 civilians a day, including women and children," Lynn Pascoe, a senior U.N. official, told the Security Council. "The total is certainly well over 7,500." Tunisia, meanwhile, has offered al-Assad asylum if he steps down, its state news agency reported. The number Pascoe cited is still below the 9,000-plus that opposition activists say have died in the nearly year-long attempt to put down opposition to al-Assad. At least 104 people, including three women and two children, were killed across Syria on Tuesday alone, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria,...

CNN (CNN) -- A 13-year-old boy was killed by sniper fire Wednesday as government forces continue tormenting civilians across Syria, opposition activists said. The boy was killed in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group. And an undisclosed number of people were killed and injured by rockets falling on the western city of Rastan, the group said. Meanwhile, in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, Syrian forces stormed residential buildings searching for and detaining men ages 13 and above, said an opposition activist named Mostapha. A United Nations official supported what Syrian dissidents have claimed for months -- that indiscriminate bombardment by government tanks and rocket fire have contributed to "well over 7,500 deaths." The U.N. has credible reports that "the death toll now often exceeds 100 civilians a day, including women and children," Lynn Pascoe told the U.N. Security Council. Pa...

BBC   The Syrian government welcomed Hamas after it was banned in Jordan in 1999 Continue reading the main story Related Stories Palestinians' geographic divide Israel condemns Fatah-Hamas move Abbas to head interim government The political leadership of the Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, has moved from Syria to Egypt and Qatar. Deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk, now based in Cairo, said Hamas could not operate effectively due to the unrest in its long-time ally. The political leader, Khaled Meshaal, and his aides have moved to Doha. On Friday, the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, declared his support for Syrian people against President Bashar al-Assad. "I salute all people of the Arab Spring, or Islamic winter, and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform," Ismail Haniya told worshippers at a mosque in Cairo. The worshippers shouted back: "God is grea...

BBC     Dozens have died in the past few days in Homs, opposition activists say Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Referendum in media spotlight Syrians flee Tribute to Colvin Guide to opposition A new resolution is being drawn up at the United Nations to focus on humanitarian aid for Syria, in the hope both China and Russia, which have opposed previous votes, will back it. Although diplomats said the move was in the early stage, China said it did back "creating conditions" for humanitarian aid to be sent. A UN meeting on Tuesday was told more than 7,500 had died in Syrian unrest. Syrian forces continued to pound the city of Homs on Wednesday. Three journalists, Edith Bouvier, William Daniels and Javier Espinosa, are still believed to be trapped in Homs. Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy was smuggled out to Lebanon on Tuesday in an operation that lef...

BBC The Syrian army is advancing on opposition positions in Homs, which has been under artillery bombardment for nearly a month, reports say. Security officials in Damascus said the besieged district of Baba Amr would be "cleaned" within the next few hours. Residents of Homs have long said they believe a ground assault is imminent, but the scale of the operation remains unclear. It comes amid reports of a new draft UN resolution on the crisis. The draft, which is still in its early stages, focuses on humanitarian aid for Syria, in the hope both China and Russia, which have opposed previous votes, will back it. Although diplomats said the move was in the early stage, China said it supported "creating conditions" for humanitarian aid to be sent. A UN meeting on Tuesday was told more than 7,500 had died in the 11 months of protest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 'Fierce confrontations'   Fresh shelling was reported in Ho...

BBC Continue reading the main story BACK 1 of 8 NEXT   Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Referendum in media spotlight Syrians flee Tribute to Colvin Guide to opposition The Syrian authorities have responded to anti-government protests with overwhelming military force since they erupted in March 2011. The protests pose the greatest challenge to four decades of Assad family rule in the country. Here is an overview of the uprising, in which the UN says more than 5,000 civilians have been killed by security forces and 14,000 others detained. The government says 2,000 members of the security forces have died. How did the protests start?   The unrest began in the southern city of Deraa in March when locals gathered to demand the release of about 15 school children who were arrested and reportedly tortured after writing on a wall th...

BBC BBC's Jim Muir: "People have started voting... but there are also reports of shelling and shooting in many parts of the country" Continue reading the main story Syria Crisis Referendum in media spotlight Syrians flee Tribute to Colvin Guide to opposition The Syrian government has held a referendum on a new constitution as violence continues around the country, killing at least 30 people. The new constitution calls for a multi-party parliamentary election within three months. The opposition boycotted the vote, calling it a farce and demanding President Bashar al-Assad stand down. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said "there's every possibility" Syria could descend into civil war. But she warned "outside intervention" could exacerbate the situation. "I think that as you try to play o...

BBC   Bashar al-Assad cast his vote in the referendum, accompanied by his wife, Asma Continue reading the main story Related Stories Syria holds vote despite violence Syrian army shells northern towns Traumatised Syrians flee to Jordan The referendum on a new draft constitution in Syria, and the continuing violence in the Middle Eastern country has split opinion in both regional and global press. Editorials in Syrian state media were characteristically defiant, whilst comment in support of and against the referendum appeared in Gulf and regional media. Elsewhere, an article by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a Moscow newspaper warned against military intervention in Syria, and was highly critical of US and Western policy in the region. China's media, angry at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks calling China and Russia's veto of a UN resolution on Syria "despicable", weighed in against the US and the West. ...