The passengers and crew are all safe. It appears to be a hoax,” said Bosra Islam, general manager of Biman's Public Relations ...

Awda's rising profile and growing ties with Arab states that oppose Syria's new Islamist rulers make him a threat?

"We're an organised force in the south... headed by officers who defected" from Assad's army, he told AFP in Daraa's town of Bosra. "We can integrate the defence ministry as a pre-organised entity ...