For today, links to a report from the Cradle and to commentary from Informed Comment via ScheerPost; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below . (SYRIA 4-18-25 is HERE, or scroll down. THE POPE, GAZA, YEMEN and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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FROM APRIL 20  Iraqi lawmakers seek to block Syrian interim president’s visit to Baghdad. From the Cradle. Iraqi lawmakers are seeking to block Syria’s de facto President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, from visiting Baghdad next month for the Arab League Summit, citing his past role as a commander in Al-Qaeda, which carried out hundreds of terror attacks against Iraqi civilians following the 2003 U.S. invasion.  READ MORE . . .

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FROM APRIL 18  Trump administration to draw down troop presence in new, fundamentalist Syria, by Juan Cole | Informed Comment / ScheerPost  ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Tara Copp at AP reports that the Trump administration will withdraw some of the 2,000 troops now based in southeastern Syria. Some 600 will come out, leaving about 1,400. The U.S. has eight small bases there and will close three of them. The UAE press, which draws on in part on the NYT, says . . . READ MORE . . .

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