There is a date for the presidential elections in Syria. The vote will take place in just under forty days, on May 26th. The polls will therefore open for the second time since the start of the civil war that has torn the country apart but has not caused the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, who indeed seems to be firmly in power. The news was given by the speaker of the Parliament, Hamouda Sabbagh, during an extraordinary session of the Parliament in Damascus. From Monday it will be possible to submit applications. Syrians abroad will be able to vote in their embassies and consular offices a few days in advance, starting May 20.
Syria, from the boys of Deraa to the nightmare of Isis
by Giampaolo Cadalanu
While seeking a political and institutional composition, the situation on the ground continues to be unstable. The Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the American military, and the Syrian government forces, assisted by their allied militias, have launched two distinct campaigns against the Islamic State cells deployed in the desert region of the Syrian Abbey. The Black Caliphate has indeed intensified its activities against both fronts.
American raid in Syria, pro-Tehran militias hit
by Vincenzo Nigro
The pan-Arab newspaper “Al Arabi al Jadid” writes that the Syrian Forces have started operations, with the air and ground support of the US-led international coalition, in the district of Wadi al Ajaij, north-east of Deir ez-Zor , in search of jihadist cells. Just north of Deir ez-Zor, a few days ago the Islamic State claimed to have killed or injured at least ten Kurdish-Syrian militiamen in the course of an action against the Syrian Forces.
So the current leader of the Islamic State Al Qurashi betrayed his comrades to make a career
by Francesco Bussoletti
Meanwhile, in central Syria, along the Euphrates, Russia is preparing to open a new military air base in an area where government forces allied with Moscow operate. The news comes from the National Observatory for Human Rights in Syria, which has been in the field for 15 years with its researchers: the base is under construction along the southern bank of the river, halfway between Raqqa and Dayr az Zor. For the Observatory, the new installation will serve two main objectives of Moscow: to counter the growing presence of ISIS militiamen along the Euphrates valley and to contain the expansion of pro-Iranian Shiite militiamen, both Afghans and Iraqis.
Although the Caliphate was declared defeated in Syria in 2019, it nevertheless continues to be present with clandestine cells carrying out asymmetric attacks against Syrian government forces and Kurdish-Syrian forces, east of the Euphrates. Moscow, a historic ally of Damascus, intervened militarily in Syria indirectly in 2015, and maintains its headquarters in the coastal region of Latakia.
In Damascus, the government has meanwhile condemned a statement made by the High Representative of the European Union for foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, relating to the report – published in recent days – in which the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Opac) accused Syria of using chemical weapons in Saraqib in February 2018. In a statement, the Syrian foreign ministry said it “rejected” Borrell’s statement “in form and content”. “The declaration is full of errors and positions far from logic and reality”, continues the note from the Damascus ministry, adding that “it goes hand in hand with the aggressive approach adopted by the European Union in the last ten years against Syria” . Now the calling of presidential elections could be a test in such a magmatic and unstable situation both on the ground and from the political point of view.
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