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Questions raised over Syrian complicity in US raid

The 38-year-old farmer was watering his maize in the scrubby vastness of eastern Syria when four Black Hawk helicopters swooped in low over the palm trees, heading from the border with Iraq formed by the Euphrates River.

Arab summit conspicuous for its absentees

Beirut
According to the Baath Party, rulers of Syria for 43 years, Damascus is the “beating heart” of pan-Arabism, the center of Arab “unity and dialogue” and the place to “close ranks” and “confront foreign plots” aimed at dividing the region.
But when the Syrian capital hosts its first meeting of the Arab League this weekend, the 22- nation organization annual event will be marked by what is not said and snubs by regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt.