Syria

He's not wealthy or famous, a man of high education or rare breeding. Nor does he make much of a rebel. Yet here he is, a reluctant political operative deep into a declared "war" against Syria's Baath Party. A harried photographer and curator, Issa Touma is the son of an Arabic language teacher bewildered by his exploits and a homemaker who laughs and then weeps at them. She fears Touma's audacity will get him arrested.

Excavations at a ruined city on the plains of northeastern Syria have turned up the oldest known example of large-scale warfare -- a massive campaign that pummeled the city into submission at the dawn of civilization more than 5,500 years ago, researchers said Thursday. The discovery of the devastated remains of the ancient trading center suggests that the urge to attack and conquer cities is as old and basic as the need to build them, the researchers said.

After blunt U.S. diplomatic warnings, Iran and Syria have at least temporarily closed their borders with Iraq in moves that could prevent hundreds of Al Qaeda and Ansar al Islam extremists from escaping into Iran and cut off Arab fighters and military equipment arriving from Syria, according to senior U.S. officials. "We're having some success on the two most difficult borders," said a senior administration official who requested anonymity. "We're hoping it lasts."

The State Department said Thursday that Syria, responding to U.S. pressure, has closed the frontier with Iraq to all traffic in both directions so Iraqis attempting to escape would be turned away. "We now understand that Syria has closed its borders to all but humanitarian traffic. That's what they've told us, and we certainly hope that proves to be true," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said.

The outdoor cafe was crowded with men drinking beer when Osama bin Laden suddenly appeared on a television screen in the corner. The men rose, cheering and toasting, when Bin Laden said America would not know security until the Palestinians do. Bin Laden says he is waging a jihad, or holy war, in the interest of Islam. So Abdel Razzak was a bit taken aback to see his friends and neighbors toasting the zealot with alcohol, which is prohibited by the Muslim faith.

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.

Their bodies and psyches still etched with the wounds of Lebanon's civil war, the people of Beirut shepherded their former prime minister's body through the capital's bullet-scarred streets Wednesday in a funeral march that turned into a protest against Syria. The day began with somber prayers over the body of Rafik Hariri but gave way to a jostling outpouring of religious fervor and nationalistic rage as at least 150,000 mourners crammed the streets.

On the streets outside Jadat al Hashimi School, candidates in Syria's parliamentary elections Sunday advertised their campaigns with pictures and banner slogans. But the plethora of posters belied the lack of choice inside the voting booth. Syrian voters who came to cast their ballots had no meaningful alternative to the ruling party, which largely dictates who has a chance to be in the next parliament. "What's the point?"

Israel on Saturday declared that Syria was responsible for a Palestinian suicide attack on a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed four Israelis, wounded dozens and threatened to taint the conciliatory atmosphere that has taken hold since the death of Yasser Arafat.

Syria has built a missile facility over the ruins of what the U.S. says was a nuclear reactor destroyed by Israeli warplanes, diplomats said. Citing comments by Syrian nuclear chief Ibrahim Othman at a closed meeting, the diplomats said the new structure appeared to be a missile control center or actual launching pad. The two Westerners demanded anonymity for divulging what Othman told the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board....