London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The decision of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to announce an interim government in territories it controls in Syria has raised concerns among both Syrian opposition groups and the countries backing them, including the United States. Ambassador Robert Ford, the US A
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The ‘Friends of Syria’ group of states called on the Syrian government and its opponents to attend a forthcoming peace conference aimed at ending the country’s civil war at a meeting in London on Tuesday. Foreign ministers from the 11 core members of the 
“The Assad regime does not have the ability to seriously threaten our military. Any other retaliation they might seek is in line with threats that we face every day. Neither Assad nor his allies have any interest in escalation that would lead to his demise. And our ally, Israel, can defend its
