“It seems we swapped weather with Europe!”
Ziad, Damascus

“Thank you for the warm regards, we really need them in the snowy and cold weather we have now in Jordan!”
Victoria, Amman

by Zainab Hamoud

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On January 19, the Secretary General of Damascus Capital of Arab Culture 2008, Hanan Qassab Hassan, launched the festival during a large ceremony at Al Assad Centre for Culture and Arts in the Syrian capital.
President Bashar al-Assad, the emir of Qatar, the Turkish president, former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, and the Arab League’s secretary general Amr Moussa attended the official inaugural ceremony together with top officials.
Since 1996, the Arab league, through the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Alesco), chooses a city each year to receive the title of Capital of Arab Culture, whose objective is to show the riches of Arab culture in the arts and literature.
Damascus is going to host several events this year, like theatre, cinema, music and dance presentations, publications, as well as conferences and discussion groups with Arab intellectuals. One of the most awaited events is the show by Lebanese singer Fairuz, who will make six presentations at the Opera House, starting on January 28. The event organisers also intend to bring several other artists from the Arab and non-Arab world. Among the guests is North American linguist and thinker Noam Chomsky and Czech writer Milan Kundera.
News on Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana)
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