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Ancient History
The Arab empire had nearly collapsed during the Muslim Civil War in 656-651. This civil war was the knife that split the Muslim community into two sections: Shiite Muslims of Iraq, and the Sunnis Muslims of Syria. This grand empire founded by the prophet Muhammed was at the time ruled by Uthman ibn Affan. Uthman was part of a middle eastern tribe called the Umayyads, who were known for their fierceness in battle. The Umayyads, strangely enough, had been Muhammad’s fiercest enemies. After being appointed caliph in 644, Meccans and Medinans started riots against Uthman, who they believed did not deserve the throne. Later came the Shiites, who brought in even more trouble. The Shiite population believe that only descendants of Muhammed may become caliphs. Thus they  considered that Ali ibn Abi Talib, son-in-law of the prophet, had been robbed of his crown. In 656, Uthman was murdered by an Egyptian army who had surrounded his palace and threatened to kill him if he showed any signs of resistance. In 657, Ali organized an attack against the Sunnis of Syria. His army met Muawiyah -chief of the Umayyad clan- at Siffin, giving the battle its name (Battle of Siffin). Midway through the battle, the Umayyads asked for a truce, and because Ali wished to end the bloodshed, he agreed. Their pact was based on the Koran, which was probably the only thing that they both agreed on. In 661, Ali too was murdered in Iraq by a group of Shiite extremists, known as the Kharijites. These were soldiers who had broken away from the Umayyad army after the caliph settled on an agreement with the Islamic people of Syria. After the death of Ali, Muawiyah quickly ordered Hassan -Ali’s only son- to be killed. After being rid of all Shiite opposition from Iraq, Muawiyah named himself caliph.

Kingdom of Syria
Ebla was the center of Syria, founded in 3000 BC. In 2260 BC, it was conquered by Sargon of Akkad, but became the Ammonites a few centuries later. In the early second millennia, it was conquered by the Hittites. Afterwards, it was occupied by Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as each owned a part of Syria in their various empires. Eventually, the Persians took control of Southwest Asia, including Syria. Then, Greece took control of Syria through Alexander the Great’s conquests. In 64 BC, Syria was controlled by the Romans and the Byzantines. Antioch, one of the largest cities of its time with a population of 500,000 people, was the capital of Syria. The Romans lost control of Syria in 636 AD.

Recent Developments
In 2003, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqi citizens fled into Syria when the US invaded Iraq. As of January 2010, only 50,000 Iraqi citizens have returned to Iraq, prompting Syria to accuse Iraq of evading its responsibilities. In 2009, Baghdad accused Damascus of being related to bombings that killed more than 200 people. September 2010, Iraq and Syria restore relations after cutting them off for a year.