Nomination of Bashar al-Assaad for President

DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, on an official visit to Damascus, has signed a series of agreements for economic cooperation with Syria.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government needs to develop stronger ties with Syria in all fields of diplomacy, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The United States warned Syria not to take military action against Lebanon after Syria's president accused Beirut of financing terrorists targeting Syria.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Damascus for a two-day state visit to Syria.

LAKE COMO, Italy, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres said Friday that face-to-face talks with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria could bring "major change" in the Middle East.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- If Iran is able to acquire nuclear weapons it could not only threaten the Middle East, but also the rest of the world, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warns.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad says he didn't bring any new offers from the west when he called on Iran's president this weekend.

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 31 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council at a meeting on improving bilateral relations.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- One of the more intractable legacies of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war has been Israel's inability to bring Syria to the table to sign a peace treaty, as Syrian demands for an agreement include at a minimum the return of the occupied Golan Heights. As U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues her efforts to broker a Middle East peace settlement, she might consider engaging further the "honest broker" services of one of the few Middle East nations that enjoy decent relations with both Jerusalem and Damascus -- Turkey.

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- A Lebanese politician predicts a new war between Israel and Syria and that Hezbollah's power in Lebanon would suffer a new assault from Israel.