Syria

Over the weekend, Iran failed to respond to an informal two-week deadline to give a yes-or-no answer to negotiations on dismantling crucial parts of its nuclear program. It was instead busy in a flurry of diplomatic and military activity to bolster its position. On Saturday and Sunday, Tehran received a Syrian delegation led by President Bashar Assad, an important Iranian ally, in an apparent effort to coordinate diplomatic strategy and fend off any possible U.S. or Israeli attack.

An intriguing item about the mysterious leader of a ferocious militant group floated around the Lebanese and Syrian media over the weekend. According to a report in the Arab-language Syrian newspaper Al Liwaa, the leader of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Fatah al Islam was captured two months ago in Syria. The report says that Shaker Abbsi, a former Libyan air force pilot turned Islamist, was caught in the poor Meliha district of south Damascus and hauled off to prison.

U.S. commandos crossing into Syria in an unprecedented raid this weekend killed a senior Al Qaeda associate accused of funneling fighters, weapons and cash to the insurgency in Iraq, U.S. officials familiar with the operation said Monday. Abu Ghadiyah, the chief of a Syrian smuggling network who was killed in the controversial operation Sunday, was "one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent, facilitators of foreign fighters going into Iraq for Al Qaeda," a senior U.S. official said.

The Iraqi government Tuesday condemned a U.S. helicopter assault inside Syria over the weekend as Damascus shut down an American school and cultural center in reaction to the raid. As the Iraqi government voiced displeasure over the American assault, the Cabinet also approved changes to a proposed U.S.-Iraq security agreement that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq through the end of 2011.

Samples taken from a Syrian site bombed by Israel on suspicion it was a covert nuclear reactor contain traces of uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation, diplomats said Monday. The diplomats -- who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential -- said the uranium was processed and not in raw form, suggesting some kind of nuclear link.

An investigation into a remote Syrian site bombed by Israel 14 months ago has provided no conclusive answers so far, but sparked speculation about the source of trace amounts of radioactive material found at the site. A report published Wednesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency said satellite imagery from the location near Dair Alzour suggested that the construction site "appears to have been similar" to the layout of a nuclear reactor.

U.S. forces will step up their offensive against Iranians and Syrians in Iraq as part of President Bush's new plan for the country, American officials said Wednesday, in a step likely to further inflame Washington's relationship with Tehran. U.S. officials contend that Iran and Syria have been allowing militants to enter Iraq from their territory, and accuse Tehran of providing arms, money and training to Shiite Muslim militias.

Two codefendants of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were hanged before dawn today in a grisly execution that apparently tore the head off one defendant, an Iraqi government spokesman said. Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, Hussein's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed Bandar, a former Revolutionary Court judge, were put to death in Baghdad 16 days after Hussein was hanged, amid a media blackout.

The Iraqi government Thursday invited Iran and Syria to Baghdad for talks next month on regional security, amid growing tension and accusations by the Bush administration of foreign meddling in Iraqi affairs. Iraqi officials have not invited the United States to the meeting, which also could include Iraq's other neighbors, the United Nations and the Arab League.

The Iraqi government on Sunday accused Syria of harboring insurgents fomenting violence here after a massive suicide bombing the previous day killed at least 130 people in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital. The allegation strained relations with Iraq's neighbor just weeks after the two resumed diplomatic ties, and it led to squabbling among Iraqi politicians during a parliamentary session.