Middle East/North Africa

A bill to arm the Syrian opposition cleared its first legislative hurdle, easily passing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) slammed the panel’s closed-door briefing about Benghazi on Tuesday, calling it a “redundant waste of time.”

“It is my hope that today’s briefing is the last act in a sad attempt to manufacture a scandal,” Smith said in a statement as the briefing got underway. “For nearly eight months, we have watched Republicans desperately and obsessively search for a scandal, which has not appeared.”

Smith’s comments come amid partisan fighting over last year’s attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed. Republicans accuse the Obama administration of hiding the truth about what happened, while Democrats say the GOP is conducting a political witch hunt.

The Arizona senator said the planned negotiations all but assure the Obama administration won't soon take stronger action against Syria. 

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Middle East on Tuesday for another round of talks on Syria and Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Kerry kicked off the week-long trip with a visit to Oman, where he's scheduled to discuss efforts to bring a peaceful resolution to Syria's 26-month civil war with Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. He travels next to Amman, Jordan, for a meeting Wednesday with the foreign ministers and other senior representatives of 11 nations that support the rebels who are battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The visits come ahead of a last-ditch effort to a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Syria, which has claimed almost 100,000 lives. The United Nations peace talks, pushed by the United States and Russia, are scheduled to take place next month in Geneva.

The star witness said Clinton personally ordered Ambassador Chris Stevens to set up a permanent post in Benghazi.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Monday that there was unanimous consent to take up a Senate resolution that would strengthen enforcement of sanctions against Iran.

Reid said the Senate would debate S.Res. 65 and proceed to a vote on Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) last week dropped his support for creating a select committee on last year's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Mica added his name to the resolution calling for a select committee in late March. But last Thursday, he asked that his name be removed from that resolution, which was introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

The development delivers a blow to political transition talks the United States and Russia plan to lead

Congress has decided it's waited long enough and is ramping up a new round of sanctions.

Russia has sent Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, the New York Times reported, in the latest sign Moscow will continue to help Assad’s regime militarily.

Russia had previously provided the anti-ship cruise missiles, Yakhonts, to the Syrians, but the latest shipment includes advanced radar technology, according to the Times, which cited unnamed American officials.

“It’s a real ship killer,” Nick Brown, editor in chief of IHS Jane’s International Defense Review, told the Times.