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Beirut – Syrian Army Chief of Staff General Ali Habib arrived in Beirut on Tuesday in the first such visit by a senior military official since the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005.

Amman – The leaders of Jordan and Syria on Monday set Israel’s evacuation from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War as prerequisite for establishment of peace in the region.

Washington  – US President Barack Obama on Friday ordered the continuation of sanctions first imposed against Syria in 2004, telling Congress that Damascus still supports terrorist groups, is seeking weapons of mass destruction and has impeded progress in Iraq.

Vienna  – Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Tuesday in Vienna that US President Barack Obama would face a serious crisis in the Middle East if within a year he did not fix the mistakes made by his predecessor George W Bush.

Ankara – Turkey on Monday started its first-ever joint military training exercise with neighbouring Syria, the Turkish General Staff confirmed to the German Presse Agency dpa. The small-scale training exercises focussed on border protection and will last until Wednesday, said a spokesman for the General Staff.

Damascus  – US Acting Assistant Secretary for the Near East Jeffrey Feltman and another top US diplomat were to arrive later Saturday in Syria for what Feltman called a “long list” of concerns.

Damascus – The US embassy in Damascus is closing for one day on Thursday for security reasons, according to the embassy’s website.

Damascus – A Syrian court reduced the sentences for twelve political activists on Wednesday who had been handed six-year jail terms for “publishing false news and threatening Syria’s national morale.”

Damascus – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Monday he did not believe the reported US commando raid in Syria would affect Israel.

Damascus – Syria on Monday condemned a helicopter-borne commando raid on a remote border village by US forces in which it said eight civilians, including four children, were killed.