Rania Khalek

“We Don’t Want To Lose Anymore”: Inside the Complex Peace Process That Helped Syrians Find an End to the Fighting

In war torn areas across Syria, a series of reconciliation deals overseen by the secret fixer of Damascus, Khaled al Ahmad, has given residents a respite from the bloodshed.

Rania Khalek
By Rania Khalek
syria

This is part 2 of a two part series on the reconciliation process in Syria. You can read part 1 here.  BEIRUT, LEBANON – Since the Syrian government’s reconquest of its southernmost regions, only two zones remain outside its control. Turkey still occupies parts of Idlib, Latakia and Aleppo in the northwest of the country, relying on proxy

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Meet the Mystery Fixer Who Negotiated Syria Out of Seven Years of War

How a nearly unknown businessman named Khaled al Ahmad became Damascus’ secret liaison to the West and quietly dealt Syria’s grinding war to a close.

Rania Khalek
By Rania Khalek
syria

After seven years of grinding war, the Syrian government has achieved victory. According to current and former international officials and diplomats as well as UN officials, credit or blame for the Syrian government’s recent victories in East Ghouta and then in the south — along with the tacit acceptance these sweeping military successes received —

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Rania Masri on Saudi Arabia and Kidnapping of Lebanese Prime Minister

Hariri has essentially been held incommunicado for over a week, even though a few heads of state have apparently been allowed to see him under the supervision of Saudi authorities.

Kevin Gosztola
Rania Khalek
By Kevin Gosztola
And Rania Khalek
A worker stands in front of a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic words that read, "We are all Saad,", in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 11, 2017. Lebanon's president has called on Saudi Arabia to clarify the reasons why the country's prime minister has not returned home since his resignation which was announced from the kingdom. (AP/Hassan Ammar)

When Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s plane landed in Saudi Arabia on November 3, his phone was confiscated. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not send an entourage to greet him like a dignitary. The next day, he appeared in a taped broadcast on a Saudi television station and read a statement that suggested he had resigned. Hariri has

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How A Free Syrian Army Unit Uncovered The Rebels’ Israeli Connection

Before the Golan Brigade was targeted for destruction by Israel and Al Qaeda, it was allied with them.

Rania Khalek
By Rania Khalek
Two men, not specified which group of rebels, ride a motorcycle towards an abandoned UN base at Syria's Quneitra border crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

QUNEITRA, SYRIA -- Ahmad Kaboul has big shoes to fill. Earlier this summer, his childhood friend and commanding officer of the Golan Brigade, Majed Hamoud, was killed by Jabhat Al Nusra, Syria’s al Qaeda affiliate, which now goes by the name Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham. Founded as one of the dizzying array of fighting units in Syria’s six-year civil war,

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