A series of meetings between United States and Syrian diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, at the United Nations last week are stirring speculation that Washington may at last be moving toward engaging Damascus.

There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. There's a man with a gun over there, Telling me I got to beware....

The usually timid Syrian president emerged from his customary reserve with an unprecedented speech filled with furor, bravado and threats aimed at his Lebanese opponents, Israel and the United States. As one Syrian blogger put it, "Bashar came out

While Washington remains preoccupied with Tehran's quest for nuclear advancement, Damascus has been quietly raising the ante as Syrian officials talk about examining "other options" to regain the Golan Heights. At the same time, ignoring pressures

Syria's beleaguered President Bashar Al Assad has shown a determination to resist international pressure by naming Farouk Al Shara as vice-president but is keeping his options open, analysts said.

Syria flexed its Lebanese political muscle on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people, responding to a call from Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah, took to the streets of Beirut in a show of support for Damascus. Several eyewitnesses, however, told