Arab nationalists

According to international networks,  jihadists burned alive 45 hostages in northern Iraq.

Although it still remains unclear who the victims were and why they were executed, rumors want some of the victims being members of security forces.

Any resolution to the fighting in Syria must involve President Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations envoy to Syria has said in the first such acknowledgement by the UN.

"President Assad is part of the solution," Staffan de Mistura told a joint press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Vienna on Feb. 13.

Any resolution to the fighting in Syria must involve President Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Feb. 13 in the first such acknowledgement by the UN.        

"President Assad is part of the solution," de Mistura told a joint press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Vienna.        

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Feb. 11 he will discuss his peace efforts with the Security Council, following a visit to Syria where he met President Bashar al-Assad.
      
State news agency SANA said the talks between the envoy and Syria's embattled leader were "positive and constructive".
      

The United States on Feb. 10 denied that it was coordinating air strikes either directly or indirectly with the Syrian regime against Islamic militants and renewed calls for President Bashar al-Assad to go.
      
In an interview with the BBC, Assad said Damascus was being informed about the US-led coalition air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Syrian opposition figures and representatives of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began talks in Moscow Jan. 28 aimed at restarting long-stalled peace negotiations to end the country's brutal war.        

The United States has refuted speculation that suggested it is considering changes to its long-standing Syria policy of prioritizing the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged states fighting terrorism to share intelligence, Syrian state media reported on Jan. 14, saying European policies were responsible for attacks by Islamist gunmen in France last week.
   

More than 76,000 people were killed in Syria's brutal conflict in 2014, making it the bloodiest year yet in the country's nearly four-year war, a monitor said on Dec. 1.
      
The conflict that began in March 2011 shows no sign of abating, with President Bashar al-Assad making a rare public appearance on a front line overnight to bolster soldiers and pro-government fighters.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad saw in the New Year with a rare visit to a combat zone to rally the troops, his office said.
      
Assad visited the east Damascus district of Jobar, state media said.