''Al-Watan'' ( ar, الوطن, lit=The Homeland) is a privately owned government-aligned

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

daily newspaper published in Syria.

History and profile

''Al Watan'' was launched in 2006. The paper is published by the Syrian Arab Publishing and Distributing Company. It is the country's first private daily newspaper since the 1960s (not counting the state party organ '' Al-Baath''), but its editorial line and reporting is practically identical to that of the public-owned papers. In fact, the owner of the daily is the cousin of the

Syrian President The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس سوريا) is the head of state of the Syria, Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discreti ...

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

Rami Makhlouf Rami Makhlouf ( ar, رَامِي مَخْلُوف, Rāmī Maḫlūf; born 10 July 1969) is a Syrian businessman and the maternal cousin of president Bashar al-Assad. At the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Syrian Civil War in 2011, he was con ...

. Its sister daily is '' Al Iqtissadiya''. The online edition of the paper was the 33rd most visited website for 2010 in the

MENA region MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

References

2006 establishments in Syria Publications established in 2006 Al-Watan Mass media in Damascus Al-Watan {{Asia-newspaper-stub