Germany investigates Syrian grad student suspected of making IS video
Prosecutors in Frankfurt, Germany are investigating a 35-year-old Syrian doctorate student suspected of involvement in an IS propaganda video.
The unnamed man is believed to have explained his reasons for supporting IS in a nine-minute video in Arabic posted on the internet on Jan. 7.
The man is also suspected of posting a symbol resembling the IS flag on his personal page on a social media site.
Via Twitter, Russia's Foreign Ministry drives home FM Lavrov's insistence that Russian air strikes will not stop until all "terrorists" are defeated.
Arab fighters, Kurdish forces retake northern Iraq village from IS
Sunni Arab fighters backed by Kurdish forces and U.S.-led air strikes have retaken the village of Kudila in the Makhmour district of northern Iraq today from the IS group, Reuters reports, calling it an "example of effective military cooperation on the ground" against IS.
Syrian opposition leader Riyad Hijab has arrived in Geneva, the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee says.
IS militants open fire on Turkish soldiers near Syria border: Anadolu
IS militants opened fire on Turkish military personnel near the Syrian border in the southeastern town of Karkamis on Feb. 3, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.
The gunfire came from the IS-controlled town of Jarabulus as the soldiers were engaged in mine clearance activities, the report says.
Syrian government Aleppo offensive threatens peace talks -- is that deliberate?
A Syrian government offensive, backed by heavy Russian air strikes, on rebel-held areas of Aleppo is threatening to derail UN efforts to get peace talks off the ground, the BBC reports.
A Syrian army colonel told the AFP news agency that it planned to break a long-running rebel siege of two pro-government Shia villages, Nubul and Zahraa, and also to cut a rebel supply route from Turkey to opposition-held parts of Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Russian warplanes had carried out more than 320 air strikes in the area since Monday morning.
At least 18 civilians, including three children and two emergency workers, were killed in the raids on Tuesday, the UK-based monitoring group said.
Why is the Syrian government, and Russia, both of whom say they are on board with the talks in Geneva, acting in a way that could jeopardize those talks?
The Soufan Group think tank argues in a report today that the recent attacks by the Assad government in Aleppo "appear calculated to bring the peace talks to a halt."
Noting that Russia's actions in Syria appear to contradict its signals that it wants peace talks to succeed, Soufan Group writes:
Russia may calculate that Assad’s fortunes can rise still higher before he need negotiate, but they are just as likely to fall again before the war is over. The key objectives for all external parties must be to have rebel forces join the Syrian army in an assault on the Islamic State, and then on JaN, while a transitional process slowly works out a political settlement
AFP's Maya Gebeily has these comments from the Syrian opposition delegation HNC's Mohammed Alloush.
Alloush was asked about his views on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which is fighting against the IS group in northern Syria.
Fresh momentum in Syria talks?
The main Syrian opposition delegation to the peace talks, the HNC, says that its leader will arrive in Geneva early this evening.
Syria talks can't continue unless 'certain sides' change tack: Iran's Larijani
Iran's powerful parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, has said that the Syria peace talks in Geneva cannot continue unless "certain countries in the region" changed their approaches.
The Tasnim news agency reports:
Certain countries sitting at the negotiating table to resolve the Syrian crisis pursue their own interests and make instrumental use of terrorism, Larijani said in a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier here in Tehran.
Unless their approaches are corrected, continuation of the Syria talks would be more like a “joke”, he stated.
So which countries was Larijani talking about? The parliamentary speaker went on to "lash out" at "the Saudi regime's military approach in the Middle East."
Iran's foe Saudi Arabia is backing the leading Syrian opposition faction in the talks, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC).
Russian media claims 'Al-Nusra Front Leader' killed in air strike in Aleppo
The Russian media is circulating a claim that a leader of the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front has been killed in an air strike in the town of Anadan in northern Aleppo province.
The reports say that the identity of the alleged Nusra leader is unknown.
Why report this unconfirmed rumor? The pro-Kremlin press has been focussing on reports of gains by Syrian government and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes as Syria peace talks started (and as they falter) in Geneva this week.