Kelly McEvers

A Close-Up Of Syria's Alawites, Loyalists Of A Troubled Regime

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:20:00 +0000

The film on Syria's Alawite community isn't finished yet, but filmmaker Nidal Hassan's favorite scenes are beginning to take shape.

It opens with fireworks on New Year's Eve in Tartous, Syria. "May God preserve the president for us," one young man yells in a reference to Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Situated on the Mediterranean coast, Tartous is a resort town, with a port and a Russian naval base. Roughly three-quarters of the people in Tartous are Alawites, like Assad and his late father, who have run the country for more than 40 years.

In Syria, Some Ruling Minority Alawites Take Risky Stand Against Regime

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:03:00 +0000

The Alawites of Syria were a poor, little-known Shiite minority until longtime dictator Hafez Assad, a member of the sect, rose to power in 1970. His son, President Bashar Assad, is now fighting to maintain that power in a country that has risen up against him. Now, even some Syrian Alawites say they are willing to denounce the regime, despite the risks.

A recent gathering in Cairo was much like other conferences hosted by the Syrian opposition — a flurry of activity in the hotel lobby, late-night conversations and lots of cigarettes.

But this one was different.

Revisiting Iraq: A Sister On The Edge

Kelly McEvers — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:58:00 +0000

It's been 10 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq. This week we're taking a look back, revisiting voices you first heard on NPR in 2007. We brought you the story of two sisters who had lost their parents. The older sister wore conservative clothes and recited poetry. The younger sister, just 13 at the time, appeared on the verge of becoming a prostitute.

Like so many stories in Iraq, especially sensitive ones involving shame and sex, this story has to be peeled away in layers, like an onion.

It starts with the older sister, Shahad.

Face To Face With Death In Iraq

Kelly McEvers — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:45:00 +0000

On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, NPR is catching up with some of the people we encountered during the war. In 2006, at the height of the violence, we brought you the story of a woman who performed the Muslim ritual of washing and preparing the dead for burial.

1 Decade Since The War, Where Iraq Stands Now

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:43:00 +0000

Ten years after the U.S.-led war in Iraq, NPR is looking at where the country stands now. NPR's Kelly McEvers recently visited Baghdad and offered this take on how the Iraqi capital feels today.

I think the single word that would best describe Baghdad these days is traffic. It can take hours just to get from one place to another. And I guess that's both good and bad.

Good because it means people are out, going to work, leading normal lives. They feel safe enough to be in the streets, to be in their cars. On the weekends, the parks are full of families picnicking.

Letters To My Dead Father

Kelly McEvers — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 09:14:00 +0000

Ten years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, NPR is taking a look back, revisiting people and places first encountered during the war. In 2006, NPR aired a story about a 9-year-old girl who loved her father so much, she wrote him letters to take to work with him.

A Chat With A Radical Fighter In Syria

Kelly McEvers — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:19:00 +0000
The Islamist rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra has been secretive, keeping to itself and refusing to meet Western journalists. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the Obama administration and was thought to be made up mostly of foreign fighters, working alongside Syrian rebels.
But lately, members are starting to open up as more Syrians join the group and they make more gains on the ground in the fight against the Syrian government.
In the northwest Syrian town of Kafr Nabel we met a 21-year-old fighter from the group.

'Conscience' of Syrian Revolution Faces Challenge from Islamists

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:43:00 +0000
Kafr Nabl is surrounded by rocky hills covered with olive and fig trees. Located in northwest Syria near the Turkish border, it used to be a sleepy town of about 30,000 people. Then it rose up against the government in early 2011. More than a year later, the town was "liberated" by anti-government rebels who forced out soldiers and police who worked for the government.

Conflict Transforms Syrian English Teacher Into War Photographer

Kelly McEvers — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:46:00 +0000
Syria's war has thrown ordinary citizens into situations they never could have imagined and changed them in ways they never would have dreamed. It's turned carpenters, engineers and doctors into armed rebels. And in Aleppo, it has turned a young female teacher into a war photographer.
We first met Nour Kelze back in October, on our first trip to Aleppo. We asked her to work with us as an interpreter.

Syrian Opposition Leader Holds Talks With Russia, Iran

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:19:00 +0000
Transcript
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene.
Let's begin this morning with Syria. There has been a little bit of movement on the diplomatic front. Over the weekend, one of the main Syrian opposition leaders held informal talks with the government's main backers - Russia and Iran. These talks were held on the sidelines of a security conference in Germany.

As Syrian Rebels Reopen Bakeries, Bread Crisis Starts To Ease

Kelly McEvers — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:09:00 +0000
In Syria, the staple of most meals is a thin, round, flat bread that we would probably call pita.
Back in November, as fierce fighting raged across Syria, people started to run out of this bread. Government forces were attacking bakeries in rebel-held areas and cutting off electricity so mills couldn't grind flour.

For Those Still In Syria, A Daily Struggle

Kelly McEvers — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:04:00 +0000
The situation for Syrian refugees is getting dire. Much has been reported about the worsening conditions for hundreds of thousands of Syrians taking up shelter just outside the country's borders, but inside Syria, the numbers are even higher. The United Nations says some 2 million people have been displaced from their homes in Syria, and most of them end up squatting in mosques and schools.

In War-Torn Aleppo, Old Doors That Reflect A Grand Tradition

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:38:00 +0000
Aleppo's storied old city, which dates to the 12th century, has suffered much in the fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels over the past few months. But parts of the city remain intact, as I saw on a recent walk through the winding, stone alleys on the way to the front line.
Centuries ago, it took Muslims from this area months in a caravan to make the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, which is now part of Saudi Arabia.
The trip was so difficult that pilgrims took burial clothes with them in case they didn't survive.

A Welcoming Way Station For Syrians Fleeing Home

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:20:00 +0000
It's called Beit Qamishlo, or the House of Qamishlo. It's named after a city in northeastern Syria, though the house isn't even in Syria — it's just across the border in southern Turkey.
The house is humble, made of concrete blocks, with tile floors. Arabic slogans are taped on the walls: "Beit Qamishlo is a house for everyone," "It's a window to Syria's future," "Under one roof we plant life together and freedom."
More than just ideas, Beit Qamishlo is also a hostel, a place for Syrians who've escaped their country to crash until they find more permanent digs.

As Syrian War Grinds On, A Rebel Keeps Reinventing Himself

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 22:03:00 +0000
Ibrahim Abazid had no idea he would be part of a nationwide revolt in Syria — or that his role would keep evolving.
It was March 2011. Some teenagers in his hometown, Dera'a, got arrested for spray painting anti-government slogans outside a school. Rumors began circulating that the teenagers were being tortured while in detention in the southern town.
In the broader region, Arab protesters had been filling the streets for months. Dictators in Tunisia and Egypt had already fallen.