Photos: Syria timeline, 3 years of conflict from unrest to civil war
August 31, 2013
A Syrian immigrant who lives in Bulgaria observes minute of silence during demonstration in front of the European Commission Representation office in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova) ( Bulgaria EU Syria Demo )
US President Barack Obama speaks on Syria in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on August 31, 2013 as Vice President Joe Biden looks on. Obama said Saturday he will ask the US Congress to authorize military action against Syria, lifting the threat of immediate strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Obama said he had decided he would go ahead and launch military action on Syria, but he believed it was important for American democracy to win the support of lawmakers. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images ( 522448432 )
A Lebanese special forces policeman escorts the vehicles of U.N. experts on the arrival at the private jet terminal, at Beirut international airport, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. The U.N. experts investigating last weekís alleged chemical weapons strike outside Damascus left Syria early Saturday and crossed into neighboring Lebanon, departing hours after President Barack Obama said he is weighing ìlimited and narrowî action against a Syrian regime that the administration has bluntly accused of launching the deadly attack. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) ( Mideast Lebanon Syria Crisis )
An unidentified Syrian protester, left, who opposes U.S. military action in Syria, grabs the face of Asmaa Al-Ghafari, a self-described "Syrian American revolutionist", who favors U.S. action, as protesters clash during multiple heated demonstrations in front of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ( Syria Rallies )
Opponents of U.S. military action in Syria demonstrate at New York's Times Square on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Protesters around the world took to the streets Saturday to protest for and against a possible U.S.-led attack on Syria as President Barack Obama announced he would seek congressional approval for such a move. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) ( Syria Rallies )
Demonstrators are directed by a police officer in front of the White House during a rally against a possible US attack on Syria, in Washington, DC on August 31, 2013. US President Barack Obama said Saturday he will ask the US Congress to authorize military action against Syria, lifting the threat of immediate strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Obama said he had decided he would go ahead and launch military action on Syria, but he believed it was important for American democracy to win the support of lawmakers. MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images ( 522448998 )
US President Barack Obama speaks about Syria from the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 31, 2013. Obama said Saturday he will ask the US Congress to authorize military action against Syria, lifting the threat of immediate strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Obama said he had decided he would go ahead and launch military action on Syria, but he believed it was important for American democracy to win the support of lawmakers. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images ( 522448571 )
Anti-government protesters gesture on the streets of Daraa, 100kms south of the capital Damascus on March 23, 2011. Three people, including an 11-year-old girl, were killed this afternoon in the volatile Syrian city of Daraa, witnesses said, as state media reported President Bashar al-Assad had fired the city's governor. ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic557850 )
A Syrian army soldier steps out from the burned court building that was set on fire by Syrian anti-government protesters, in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, on Monday March 21, 2011. Mourners chanting "No more fear!" have marched through a Syrian city where anti-government protesters had deadly confrontations with security forces in recent days. The violence in Daraa, a city of about 300,000 near the border with Jordan, was fast becoming a major challenge for President Bashar Assad, who tried to contain the situation by freeing detainees and promising to fire officials responsible for the violence. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) ( Mideast Syria )
A Syrian doctor treats a Syrian wounded man, who was injured during a clashes between Syrian security forces and anti-government protesters, in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, on Wednesday March 23, 2011. Syrian security forces shot live ammunition and tear gas early Wednesday near a mosque where protesters have been camped out in southern Syria, killing six people including a paramedic, activists said. The early morning attack near the al-Omari mosque in the southern city of Daraa marks the deadliest single day since anti-government protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world reached this country last week. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) ( Mideast Syria )
Syrian nationals demonstarte outside the Syrian consulate in Dubai March 24, 2011 to denounce what they called their government agression and the use of force against civilians in the Syrian city of Daraa, a mainly Sunni tribal city near the Jordanian border. International rights groups reported mass arrests in Syria after 15 people were reportedly shot dead in Daraa. KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic557937 )
Pro-Syrian President Bashar Assad protester, flashes V sign as she painted on her hand Syrian flag with Arabic words read:" Only Bashar," in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday March 26, 2011. Protesters set fire to offices of the ruling party in southern and western Syria on Saturday, burning tires and attacking cars and shops in a religiously mixed city on the Mediterranean coast, according to accounts by government officials, activists and witnesses. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi) ( Mideast Syria )
Syrians anti and pro-Assad protesters clash after Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday, March 25, 2011. Thousands of Syrians took to the streets Friday demanding reforms and mourning dozens of protesters who were killed during a violent, week long crackdown that has brought extraordinary pressure on the country's autocratic regime, activists and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman) ( Mideast Syria )
Thousands of Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad (portrait), who is facing unprecedented domestic pressure amid a wave of dissent, in Damascus on March 29, 2011. ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic559680 )
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad addresses the nation during a speech at the Parliament in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Syria's president has blamed the wave of protests against his authoritarian rule on "conspirators" _ but he failed to offer any concessions to appease the extraordinary wave of dissent. (AP Photo/SANA) ( APTOPIX Mideast Syria )
Protestors hit posters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi with shoes during a demonstration outside the Syrian embassy in London on May 7, 2011. The demonstration was called to show support for the uprising in Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6255101 )
A unidentified Syrian opposition activist speaks in Antalya on June 1, 2011 during the opening session of a three-day meeting to discuss democratic change and voice support for a simmering revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Syrian opposition activists opened a conference in Turkey today to discuss ways of a regime change in their country after dissmissing the decree of a general amnesty as inadequate. The three-day gathering began with more than 300 dissidents, mostly exiles representing various opposition factions and ethnic groups, at a hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya. "Freedom, freedom" and "the people are united" the participants chanted. ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6306740 )
Pro Palestinians protesters run from tear gas shot by Israeli troops, not seen, next to the border between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, Sunday, June 5, 2011. Israeli troops on Sunday battled hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) ( Mideast Israel Palestinians Syria )
Syrian refugees leave on a bus on June 8, 2011 the Yayladagi Turkish Red Crescent camp near the Turkish city of Hatay. Turkey will not close its doors to hundreds of refugees fleeing repression in Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on June 8, voicing concern at growing unrest across the border. Some 120 Syrian refugees crossed over into Turkey late on June 7. Another 160 followed on June 8, bringing to at least 550 the number to enter the country in recent days. MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6321155 )
Syrian refugee children flash V-signs at the Boynuyogun Turkish Red Crescent camp in the Altinozu district of Hatay, near the Syrian border, on June 12, 2011. Some 400 Syrian refugees crossed into Turkey overnight, bringing to more than 5,000 the number of people to have fled the security crackdown in Syria, the Anatolia news agency reported on June 11. MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6328298 )
In this undated photo provided late Sunday Dec. 4, 2011 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, which they claim shows Syrian soldiers kneeling next to a multiple rocket launcher as they fire missiles during a maneuver at an unknown location, in Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has a host of options if the United States launches military strikes against it. It could directly retaliate with rockets or unleash allies like Hezbollah against Western targets. Or it could do nothing -- and score propaganda points as a victim of "U.S. aggression." The regime's choice, analysts say, will likely depend on the magnitude of the U.S. military action -- the bigger and more sustained the strikes, the more likely the government in Damascus will feel compelled to respond. (AP Photo/SANA, File) ( Mideast Syria Assad's Options )
A member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) looks at the valley in the village of Ain al-Baida, in the Idlib province of Syria, not far from the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011. A rebel group of Syrian defectors reportedly took position against the Syrian Army along the Turkish border. Army defectors killed at least eight Syrian troops on December 14 in an act of revenge after security forces shot dead five civilians, activists said, in the second such insurgent attack in as many days. "At least eight soldiers were killed in an ambush on four military jeeps travelling in the village of Al-Asharna on the outskirts of (the central city of) Hama," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The violence comes amid diplomatic wrangling, as Western nations seek tough action against Syria at the UN Security Council, where the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has support from his veto-wielding ally Russia. SEZAYI ERKEN/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6726156 )
Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and their supporters gather in the Khalidiya neighborhood of the flashpoint city of Homs on January 13, 2012 as thousands protested in support of the rebels throughout the country. The rallies came after the largest civilian opposition group decided to boost cooperation with the rebel armed group, formed from deserters from the regular army who mutinied over the regime's deadly crackdown. The FSA says it has some 40,000 fighters under its command. -/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6049262 )
A member of the Free Syrian Army holds a burning portrait of embattled President Bashar al-Assad in Al-Qsair, 25kms southwest of the flashpoint city Homs, on January 25, 2012. Although heavily outnumbered and outgunned, the Free Syrian Army has increasingly launched bold attacks against regime forces and managed to seize control of some neighbourhoods of Homs. Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6056222 )
In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, Syrian mourners gather around the coffins of the victims who were killed early Saturday by the bombardment of mortars and rockets during a mass funeral procession, in Khaldiyeh neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria, on Saturday Feb. 4, 2012. Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution backing calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, despite international outrage Saturday over a devastating bombardment of the city of Homs by his regime's forces. Activists said more than 200 were killed in the bloodiest episode of the nearly 11-month uprising. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) ( APTOPIX Mideast Syria )
Portuguese representative Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, left, and South African representative Baso Sangqu, right, glance at Russian representative Vitaly Churkin, center, as they vote in support of a draft resolution backing an Arab League call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, which was later vetoed by Russia and China, during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at United Nations headquarters on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. The unusual weekend session comes as Syrian forces pummel the city of Homs with mortars and artillery in what activists are calling one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) ( APTOPIX UN Syria )
A picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows damaged police vehicles and helmets scattered on the ground amid blood and debris at the scene of one of the blasts that rocked Syria's second largest city of Aleppo on February 10, 2012. Two powerful car bombs targeting security posts ripped through Aleppo, killing at least 25 people, state media said, even as tanks surged into battered protest hub Homs. -/AFP/Getty Images ( 508737637 )
This photograph taken on February 23, 2012 shows members of the Free Syrian Army moving weapons, medicine and personnel across a river near Al Janoudiyah, in the Idlib province of Syria. Syrian regime forces killed 11 civilians and wounded 28 others on Monday, after more than 150 people were killed in violence over the weekend, a monitoring group said. The Britain-based monitoring group said explosions shook the Homs neighbourhoods of Hamidiyeh, Bustan al-Diwan, and the city centre. Two others were killed when a rocket fired by regime troops hit a car in which they travelled in the village of Talheya, in the northern province of Idlib, the Observatory said. ENN-Bradley Secker/AFP/Getty Images ( Par6896421 )
Syrian mourners, one carrying the pre-Baath national flag adopted by the rebel movement, carry the body of a youth reportedly killed in violence in the northwestern Idlib region before his burial on February 23, 2012. Three Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in a bomb at the southern entrance to the flashpoint city of Idlib , according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images ( 509089732 )
In this Friday, March 2, 2012 file photo, men hold revolutionary Syrian flags during an anti government protest in a town in north Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
A man stands in the door of his house in the old city of Idlib, north Syria, Monday, March 5, 2012. Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring Lebanon on Monday said they feared they would be slaughtered in their own homes as government forces hunted down opponents in a brutal offensive against the opposition stronghold of Homs. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) ( Mideast Syria )
United Nations special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, third left, meets with Ahmad Badr Al Din Hassoun, Syria's Grand Mufti, second right, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, March 11, 2012. United Nations envoy Kofi Annan will hold a second meeting with the country's President Bashar Assad on Sunday to discuss proposals for stopping violence and starting a political dialogue, a U.N. official in Damascus said. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman) ( Mideast Syria )
A handout picture from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows smoke rising from burning cars at the site of twin blasts in Damascus on May 10, 2012. Two powerful blasts in quick succession rocked the Syrian capital at morning rush hour, killing and wounding dozens of people, state television said, blaming the attacks on "terrorists." -/AFP/GettyImages ( 510813822 )
Syrian refugees walk across a feild on the Syrian side of the border before crossing into Turkey at Reyhanli in Antakya, on March 14, 2012. International mediator Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to the killing of civilians in Syria as he arrived in Turkey for talks on the crisis. Activists said that the Syrian army launched a new assault in the restive northern province of Idlib and the city itself, where residents are suffering "indescribable" humanitarian conditions. BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images ( 509653486 )
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center left, Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek, center right, Chief of Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, third left, and other officials attend a religious funeral for Captain Gokhan Ertan, at a mosque in the eastern Turkish city of Malatya, Turkey, Friday, July 6, 2012. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top military commanders have joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of two pilots whose jet was shot down by Syria two weeks ago. The somber ceremony took place at an air base in Malatya, from where the pilots' plane had originally taken off. (AP Photo) ( Turkey Syria Plane )
This citizen journalist image shows burning tires in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 18, 2012. A bomb ripped through a high-level security meeting Wednesday in Damascus, killing three top regime officials ó including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law ó in the harshest blow to Syria's ruling family dynasty and the rebels' boldest attack in the country's civil war. Syrian state-run TV said the blast came during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials in Damascus, which has seen four straight days of clashes between rebels and government troops. (AP Photo) ( APTOPIX Mideast Syria )
In this citizen journalist image, smoke billows over Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 18, 2012. A bomb ripped through a high-level security meeting Wednesday in Damascus, killing three top regime officials ó including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law ó in the harshest blow to Syria's ruling family dynasty and the rebels' boldest attack in the country's civil war. Syrian state-run TV said the blast came during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials in Damascus, which has seen four straight days of clashes between rebels and government troops. (AP Photo) ( Mideast Syria )
In this Friday, Sept 7, 2012 file photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter runs after attacking a tank with a rocket-propelled grenade during fighting in the Izaa district in Aleppo, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
In this Sept. 20, 2012 file photo, a wounded woman still in shock leaves Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
In this Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012 file photo, Syrian rebel fighter Tawfiq Hassan, 23, a former butcher, poses for a picture, after returning from fighting against Syrian army forces in Aleppo, at a rebel headquarters in Marea on the outskirts of Aleppo city, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
Two Syrian rebels take sniper positions at the heavily contested neighborhood of Karmal Jabl in central Aleppo on October 18, 2012. Violence persisted on October 19 with rebels and loyalists of President Bashar al-Assad locked in battle for the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan on the Damascus-Aleppo highway linking Syria's two biggest cities. Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images ( ARP3347841 )
Members of the Al-Baraa bin Malek batallion, part of the Free Syria Army's Al-Fatah brigade, duck to the ground as they pull a man who was shot by a sniper twice in the Bustan al-Basha district of the northern city of Aleppo on October 20, 2012. Due to the risk of being shot by the sniper, no one was able to rescue the man who eventually ran towards rebels, only to be shot by the sniper a second time. Rebels then pulled him and rushed him to a hospital, though it is not known if he survived. Three civilians were shot on this main road in the space of three hours by the same sniper. Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6144919 )
Free Syria Army (FSA) fighters battle with regime loyalist soldiers to dislodge a sniper from its position overlooking the two main roads in the neighbourhood of Askar in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on October 24, 2012. Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6146725 )
Civilians flee the Karm al-Jabal district of Syria's northern city of Aleppo on October 28, 2012. Less than 24 hours before a truce negotiated by the United Nations (UN) is set to expire, mortar fire and jet bombing could be heard throughout the day as both sides exchanged small arms fire. Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6147701 )
A man is treated for wounds after a Syrian government forces jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo, on October 31, 2012. The unprecedented surge in air strikes carried out by Syrian forces this week is a desperate attempt by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to reverse recent gains by rebel fighters, analysts and rebels say. Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6148417 )
In this Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 file photo, Syrian fighters of 'The Beloved of Allah,' brigade hold their weapons before fighting with government forces on the outskirts of Aleppo. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 file photo, night falls on a Syrian rebel-controlled area as destroyed buildings, including Dar Al-Shifa hospital, are seen on Sa'ar street after airstrikes targeted the area last week, killing dozens in Aleppo, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
A rebel fighter carries his son after the Friday prayer in the al-Fardos neighbourhood of Aleppo on December 7, 2012. Syrian opposition groups had agreed in Doha last month to sink their differences and form a single body in the hope of getting direct aid, including crucial anti-aircraft weapons, to combat President Assad. ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images ( 515842656 )
In this Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 photo, Syrians who fled their homes stand by their tents at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) ( Mideast Syria Refugee Winter )
In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 file photo, Syrian rebel fighter, Tariq, no last name given, 19, a former student, poses for a picture, following a training session in Maarret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
In this Dec. 17, 2012 file photo, Syrian rebels attend a training session in Maaret Ikhwan near Idlib, Syria. For Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood, the uprising against President Bashar Assad that erupted amid Arab Spring revolts in 2011 provided a long-sought opportunity to stage a comeback after decades spent in exile. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) ( Mideast Syria Brotherhood Comeback )
In this Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 file photo, Free Syrian Army fighters react after an explosion during heavy clashes with government forces at a military academy besieged by the rebels north of Aleppo, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
Abu Khalil, a sniper of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), watches government positions on February 17, 2013 in Jbiela, a neighborhood of Deir Ezzor. Once a thriving hub of Syria's oil industry, Deir Ezzor is now a ghost town of only a few thousand people struggling tenaciously to hang on against the odds after most of its people fled. ZAC BAILLIE/AFP/Getty Images ( 518049159 )
President Barack Obama answers questions during his new conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. The president said the US doesn't know how or when chemical weapons were used in Syria or who used them. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) ( Obama )
A woman raises her arms and shouts as she stands on the site where car bombs exploded on May 11, 2013 near the town hall in Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria, killing four people and wounded another 18, according to an initial toll. CEM GENCO/AFP/Getty Images ( 519641013 )
The remains of a building are pictured in front of Syrian army's soldiers walking in a street left in ruins on June 5, 2013 in the city of Qusayr in Syria's central Homs province, after the army seized total control of the city and the surrounding region. The Syrian army ousted rebels from the strategic town of Qusayr after a blistering 17-day assault led by Hezbollah fighters, scoring a major battlefield success in a war that has killed at least 94,000 people. -/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6222008 )
A rebel fighter passes through an access hole broken in the perimeter of a football pitch, close to the front line, where clashes between the rebels and pro-government troops have been taking place on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo, on July 4, 2013. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad accused the West of sending "takfiri terrorist groups" to his country as a way to get rid of them, in an interview with a Syrian daily published. DANIEL LEAL OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6230425 )
A picture taken on June 7, 2013, shows cows standing next to a Syrian army tank in Dabaa, north of Qusayr, in Syria's central Homs province. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad reclaimed control of the central village of Dabaa on June 6, Syrian state television said, a day after the army and Lebanon's Hezbollah captured a rebel bastion. -/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6222639 )
Smoke rises from a fire as a result of fighting in the the Syrian village of Quneitra near the border with Israel, as seen from an observatory near the Quneitra crossing, Thursday, June 6, 2013. Syrian rebels on Thursday captured a crossing point along a cease-fire line with Israel in the contested Golan Heights, a development that could deepen Israeli concerns over the growing role of Islamic radicals in the civil war near its northern frontier.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) ( APTOPIX Mideast Israel Syria )
US President Barack Obama (L) holds a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 summit at the Lough Erne resort near Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, on June 17, 2013. The conflict in Syria was set to dominate the G8 summit starting in Northern Ireland on Monday, with Western leaders upping pressure on Russia to back away from its support for President Bashar al-Assad. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images ( 520658849 )
The father of three-year-old Khaled Baour weeps as he holds the body of his son who was killed alongside his older sister Safia, 14, after a shell landed on their family home while they gathered to break their fast with the iftar meal, prior to their burial late on July 13, 2013 in Maaret Al-Numan in Syria's southern Idlib province. The conflict in Syria began in 2011, with peaceful demonstrations calling for regime change but morphed into an insurgency after the regime unleashed a crackdown on dissent. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6232867 )
A vehicle is seen burning in the village of Buweida, north of Qusayr, in Syria's central Homs province on June 7, 2013 as regime forces sought to mop up the final pockets of rebel resistance north of Qusayr, after retaking the key town that was an insurgent bastion for a year, a watchdog said. Qusayr's capture gives President Bashar al-Assad the upper hand if a US-Russian plan for the first direct peace talks with his opponents materialises, analysts say. STR/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6222759 )
A picture taken from a village in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows smoke billowing following alleged shelling by Syrian government forces in the southern Syrian village of Jubata al-Khashab on June 20, 2013. Syrian rebels urged friendly world powers to provide them with heavier weapons and to impose a no-fly zone over parts of the country they control to avert a humanitarian disaster. JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6226375 )
A wounded Syrian man arrives to receive treatment at Bab al-Hawa hospital near Syria's rebel-controlled border with Turkey on July 1, 2013. Fighting between rebels and regime loyalists continues amid diplomatic efforts to end the two-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people since March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6229591 )
A rebel fighter fires a 23mm anti-aircraft gun from the back of a pick-up truck as a Syrian Airforce plane flies overhead during clashes between the rebels and pro-government troops on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo, on July 4, 2013. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad accused the West of sending "takfiri terrorist groups" to his country as a way to get rid of them, in an interview with a Syrian daily published. DANIEL LEAL OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6230426 )
Rebel fighters look up listening as they take positions during clashes with pro-government forces in the Salaheddine district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on July 9, 2013. JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6231902 )
Syrian rebel fighters play a game by candle light, due to electricity cuts on May 26, 2013 in Adana, near the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor. Syria's opposition denounced as "too little, too late" an EU decision to lift an arms embargo on rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Ricardo Garcia Vilanova/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6219840 )
A man uses a lathe as he makes an improvised mortar shell to be used by rebel fighters at a factory in the city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital, on July 7, 2013. Syria's 27-month war between rebel forces and pro-government troops has killed more than 100,000 people, a monitoring group group estimates. JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6231231 )
A Syrian woman cooks an Iftar meal for poor people during the second day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Bustan al-Qasr district of Aleppo on July 11, 2013. Syria's ruling Baath party has replaced its top leadership in a surprise move, while UN head Ban Ki-Moon called on all parties in the war to observe a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6232315 )
A Syrian rebel tries on a gas mask seized from a Syrian army factory in the northwestern province of Idlib on July 18, 2013. Western countries say they have handed over evidence to the UN that Bashar al-Assad's forces have used chemical arms in the two-year conflict. More than 100,000 people have died in the conflict, which morphed from a popular movement for change into an insurgency after the regime unleashed a brutal crackdown on dissent. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images ( Nic6233845 )
This file image posted on the official Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 purports to show Syrian President Bashar Assad talking with soldiers with during Syrian Arab Army day in Darya, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Syrian Presidency via Facebook, File) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
In this Sunday, July 14, 2013 file photo, Syrian soldiers cheer after battling with rebels during a tour for journalists organized by the Syrian Information Ministry in the Damascus suburb of Jobar, Syria. More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi) ( Mideast Syria Breaking Apart )
GRAPHIC CONTENT A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows bodies of children and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013. The allegation of chemical weapons being used in the heavily-populated areas came on the second day of a mission to Syria by UN inspectors. It was promptly denied by the Syrian authorities. AFP PHOTO/HO/SHAAM NEWS NETWORK == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / SHAAM NEWS NETWORK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - AFP IS USING PICTURES FROM ALTERNATIVE SOURCES AS IT WAS NOT AUTHORISED TO COVER THIS EVENT, THEREFORE IT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO THE PICTURE'S EDITORIAL CONTENT, DATE AND LOCATION WHICH CANNOT BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED ==-/AFP/Getty Images ( 522226817 )
A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows a woman mourning over a body wrapped in shrouds laid out in a line on the ground with other victims which Syrian rebels claim were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013. The allegation of chemical weapons being used in the heavily-populated areas came on the second day of a mission to Syria by UN inspectors, but the claim, which could not be independently verified, was vehemently denied by the Syrian authorities, who said it was intended to hinder the mission of UN chemical weapons inspectors. DAYA Al-DEEN/AFP/Getty Images ( 522232110 )
A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows a Syrian couple mourning in front of bodies wrapped in shrouds ahead of funerals following what Syrian rebels claim to be a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013. The allegation of chemical weapons being used in the heavily-populated areas came on the second day of a mission to Syria by UN inspectors, but the claim, which could not be independently verified, was vehemently denied by the Syrian authorities, who said it was intended to hinder the mission of UN chemical weapons inspectors. Ammar al-Arbini/AFP/Getty Images ( 522248409 )
In this photo taken on August 24, 2013, file photo, this photo taken on a government organized media tour, a Syrian army soldier walks on a street in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has a host of options if the United States launches military strikes against it. It could directly retaliate with rockets or unleash allies like Hezbollah against Western targets. Or it could do nothing -- and score propaganda points as a victim of "U.S. aggression." The regime's choice, analysts say, will likely depend on the magnitude of the U.S. military action -- the bigger and more sustained the strikes, the more likely the government in Damascus will feel compelled to respond. (AP Photo, File) ( Mideast Syria Assad's Options )
An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by Moadamiyet al-Sham media centre on August 26, 2013 allegedly shows a United Nations (UN) arms experts inspecting the site where rockets had fallen in Damascus' Moadamiyet al-Sham suburb as they investigate an alleged chemical weapons strike near the capital. The inspectors braved sniper fire but managed to gather what the UN called "valuable" evidence from one site of last week's gruesome attacks in which hundreds are said to have been killed. -/AFP/Getty Images ( 522355643 )
US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks on Syria at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 26, 2013. The United States said Tuesday that chemical weapons had been used against Syrian civilians and warned President Barack Obama would demand accountability for this "moral obscenity." Employing his strongest language yet, Kerry said Washington was still examining evidence, but left no doubt that Bashar al-Assad's regime would be blamed. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images ( 522342358 )
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 28: Protesters block Whitehall outside Downing Street to campaign for no international military intervention in the ongoing conflict in Syria on August 28, 2013 in London, England. Prime Minister David Cameron is due to Chair a meeting of the National Security Council today before Parliament's recall tomorrow to debate the UK's response to a suspected chemical weapon attack in Syria. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images) ( 178269979 )
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: British Prime Minister David Cameron Leaves Downing Street on August 29, 2013 in London, England. Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament to debate the UK's response to a suspected chemical weapon attack in Syria. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) ( 178320340 )
People demonstrate in support of United States involvement in the conflict in Syria on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013 in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Kayne) ( US Mideast Syria Protest )
Palestinians hold Syrian flags and pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against a possible military attack by the United States on Syria, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Arabic sign reads, "The United States is the first sponsor of terrorism." (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) ( Mideast Israel Palestinians Syria Crisis )
Pushing and shoving erupts among Syrian protesters, some for and some against U.S. military action in Syria, as they demonstrate in front of the White House in Washington Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. The woman in the middle with a Syrian flag draped over his shoulders identified herself as Asmaa Al-Ghafari, a "Syrian American revolutionist." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ( Syria Rallies )
In this image released by The White House, US President Barack Obama (C) meets in the Situation Room with his national security advisors to discuss strategy in Syria on August 31, 2013. Obama said on August 31 he will ask the US Congress to authorize military action against Syria, lifting the threat of immediate strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Obama said he had decided he would go ahead and launch military action on Syria, but he believed it was important for American democracy to win the support of lawmakers. National Security Advisor Susan Rice (L), Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (2nd L), Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco (4th L), CIA Director John Brennan (6th L) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey (7th L), Vice President Joe Biden (R), State Secretary John Kerry (2nd R), Attorney General Eric Holder (3rd R) and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (6th R) attended the meeting. Pete SOUZA/The White House/AFP/Getty Images ( 522453609 )
President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, talks about the crisis in Syria to media gathered in the Rose Garden of the White House Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, in Washington. Delaying what had loomed as an imminent strike on Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons, Obama announced Saturday that he wanted to put the matter before Congress first. He said, "I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course and our actions will be even more effective." His remarks were televised live in the United States as well as on Syrian state television with translation. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ( Obama Syria )
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