Middle Orient

Russia is unconvinced by evidence presented by the United States and its allies of an alleged chemical attack outside Damascus that the West says was perpetrated by the Syrian regime, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

U.S. President Barack Obama is continuing his push for congressional support of U.S. military action in Syria. Obama is hosting a meeting Monday at the White House with prominent Senator John McCain, who

Algeria rejected on Sunday any military intervention against Syria and called for resorting political negotiations, Algerian foreign minister said. “The military intervention’s expenses and implications over the whole region will be severe,” Murad Madlisi told

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Bulent Arinc has said that Syria should be punished. Bulent Arinc announced that the Syria issue would be discussed in details at today’s meeting of the Turkish government.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the U.S. statement on a “limited” military action against Syria will not be enough to satisfy Ankara, pleading for an intervention similar to the one in Kosovo in 1999.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday intelligence gathered by Ankara left no doubt that the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were responsible for a poison gas attack near Damascus last week.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the United States is still seeking an international coalition for possible military action against the Syrian regime, despite the British Parliament’s vote against participating. Hagel outlined the U.S. position at a news conference in Manila on August 30.

French President Francois Hollande said a military strike on Syria could come by Wednesday and that Britain’s surprise rejection of armed intervention would not affect his government’s stand.

German FM Guido Westerwelle has been quoted as saying that his country was “neither asked to, nor is considering” taking part in a possible attack on Syria. “We are in favor of the UN Security Council finding

Britain will not join any military action against Syria after a stunning parliamentary defeat on Thursday of a government motion on the issue, dealing a setback to US-led efforts to punish Damascus over the use of chemical weapons against civilians.