Syrian Arab News Agency

Syria dismissed televised statements by men who said they had been trained by the Syrian intelligence service to become insurgents in Iraq. The official Syrian Arab News Agency on Thursday quoted a security source as saying the remarks were "utterly baseless and unfounded." Iraq's state-run and U.S.-funded Al Iraqiya television channel Wednesday aired what appeared to be televised confessions by insurgents. In one statement, a man said, "My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab.

With violence flaring in several regions, Syrians cast ballots Sunday for a new constitution hailed as a historic breakthrough by President Bashar Assad and denounced as a farce by his opponents. The vote came almost a year after widespread antigovernment protests broke out, inspired by so-called Arab Spring revolts elsewhere in the region. Syrian authorities responded with a fierce crackdown, but the protests persisted and evolved into an armed insurgency that has wrested some areas from government control.

Fierce clashes were reported in Syria on Friday as a deadline passed with no agreement from the government of President Bashar Assad to an Arab League demand to accept monitors or face sanctions. The league had given Syria 24 hours to sign a protocol for an observer mission that would monitor efforts to implement a peace plan endorsed this month by Assad's government. The league's social and economic council was expected to meet Saturday to consider sweeping sanctions, which could include suspending flights, halting trade and financial dealings with the government and freezing its assets.

Aid agencies were unable to evacuate any people Saturday from a battle-scarred neighborhood in the central Syrian city of Homs, one day after the United States and other nations demanded that President Bashar Assad allow humanitarian aid into strife-ridden Syria. Among the injured still stranded in Homs' Baba Amr district were a pair of Western journalists, Edith Bouvier of the French daily Le Figaro and Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times of London. Both suffered leg injuries in a shelling attack Wednesday that killed two other Western journalists.

Aid agencies were unable to evacuate any people Saturday from a battle-scarred neighborhood in the central Syrian city of Homs, one day after the United States and other nations demanded that President Bashar Assad allow humanitarian aid into strife-ridden Syria. Among the injured still stranded in Homs' Baba Amr district were a pair of Western journalists, Edith Bouvier of the French daily Le Figaro and Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times of London. Both suffered leg injuries in a shelling attack Wednesday that killed two other Western journalists.

With violence flaring in several regions, Syrians cast ballots Sunday for a new constitution hailed as a historic breakthrough by President Bashar Assad and denounced as a farce by his opponents. The vote came almost a year after widespread antigovernment protests broke out, inspired by so-called Arab Spring revolts elsewhere in the region. Syrian authorities responded with a fierce crackdown, but the protests persisted and evolved into an armed insurgency that has wrested some areas from government control.

Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Sunday called for a renewed United Nations attempt to help halt violence in Syria, asking the Security Council to create a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force to oversee implementation of a prospective cease-fire. The Arab League request came eight days after a league initiative that called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to cede power was vetoed by Russia and China in the Security Council. Whether the latest Arab League measure would win their approval was unclear.

Two judicial officials were assassinated Sunday in Syria's Idlib province, and the strife-riven nation faced what could be a critical week, almost a year after the bloody rebellion erupted against the government of President Bashar Assad. Authorities said "an armed terrorist group" in Idlib city opened fire on a car carrying a judge, Mohammed Ziyadeh, and a prosecutor, Nidal Ghazal. Also killed was the driver, said the official Syrian Arab News Agency. An opposition activist reached in Idlib contradicted the official version and said Syrian security forces killed the pair because they were cooperating with antigovernment rebels active in the northwestern region, close to the border with Turkey.

Syrian security forces besieging the city of Dara have been ordered to use "any means necessary" to crush the rebellion that sparked the weeks-long uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad, a Syrian military source said Saturday. The claim by the military official, who previously has provided accurate information, could explain the violent response of Syrian security forces in Dara over the last two days, which resembles the take-no-prisoners strategy used by Assad's father, Hafez Assad, to put down a 1982 rebellion in the central city of Hama.

Gunmen in "military uniform and government cars" were responsible for the recent killings of as many as 120 Syrian security forces in the northwestern city of Jisr Shughur, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Wednesday. The news agency's statement could signal a dramatic division within Syria's security forces and lend credence to opposition claims of clashes between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and those refusing to take part in a violent crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators.

Two judicial officials were assassinated Sunday in Syria's Idlib province, and the strife-riven nation faced what could be a critical week, almost a year after the bloody rebellion erupted against the government of President Bashar Assad. Authorities said "an armed terrorist group" in Idlib city opened fire on a car carrying a judge, Mohammed Ziyadeh, and a prosecutor, Nidal Ghazal. Also killed was the driver, said the official Syrian Arab News Agency. An opposition activist reached in Idlib contradicted the official version and said Syrian security forces killed the pair because they were cooperating with antigovernment rebels active in the northwestern region, close to the border with Turkey.

Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Sunday called for a renewed United Nations attempt to help halt violence in Syria, asking the Security Council to create a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force to oversee implementation of a prospective cease-fire. The Arab League request came eight days after a league initiative that called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to cede power was vetoed by Russia and China in the Security Council. Whether the latest Arab League measure would win their approval was unclear.

Fierce clashes were reported in Syria on Friday as a deadline passed with no agreement from the government of President Bashar Assad to an Arab League demand to accept monitors or face sanctions. The league had given Syria 24 hours to sign a protocol for an observer mission that would monitor efforts to implement a peace plan endorsed this month by Assad's government. The league's social and economic council was expected to meet Saturday to consider sweeping sanctions, which could include suspending flights, halting trade and financial dealings with the government and freezing its assets.

Gunmen in "military uniform and government cars" were responsible for the recent killings of as many as 120 Syrian security forces in the northwestern city of Jisr Shughur, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Wednesday. The news agency's statement could signal a dramatic division within Syria's security forces and lend credence to opposition claims of clashes between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and those refusing to take part in a violent crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators.

Syrian security forces besieging the city of Dara have been ordered to use "any means necessary" to crush the rebellion that sparked the weeks-long uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad, a Syrian military source said Saturday. The claim by the military official, who previously has provided accurate information, could explain the violent response of Syrian security forces in Dara over the last two days, which resembles the take-no-prisoners strategy used by Assad's father, Hafez Assad, to put down a 1982 rebellion in the central city of Hama.

Mystery surrounded a powerful car bomb explosion Saturday that ripped through a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus, killing at least 17 people and injuring 14 in the deadliest terrorist attack in Syria in more than two decades. Official Syrian television channels broadcast images of the blast's aftermath, including a crushed automobile and the mangled facade of an apartment block with windows blown out. One witness told Syrian television that the bomb was in a sedan.

Mystery surrounded a powerful car bomb explosion Saturday that ripped through a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus, killing at least 17 people and injuring 14 in the deadliest terrorist attack in Syria in more than two decades. Official Syrian television channels broadcast images of the blast's aftermath, including a crushed automobile and the mangled facade of an apartment block with windows blown out. One witness told Syrian television that the bomb was in a sedan.

Britain and Syria today restored diplomatic relations, severed four years ago when Britain accused Syria of sponsoring terrorism, the two governments announced. Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd told the House of Commons that Britain has received assurances from the Syrian government that it rejects acts of international terrorism and will take action against convicted terrorists.

Syria dismissed televised statements by men who said they had been trained by the Syrian intelligence service to become insurgents in Iraq. The official Syrian Arab News Agency on Thursday quoted a security source as saying the remarks were "utterly baseless and unfounded." Iraq's state-run and U.S.-funded Al Iraqiya television channel Wednesday aired what appeared to be televised confessions by insurgents. In one statement, a man said, "My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab.