Syrians in 3 Towns Evacuate Under Rare Deal

A human rights monitor says the evacuation of fighters and civilians is under say in three Syrian towns after a U.N.-backed humanitarian deal was reached between the government and rebels.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 100 fighters in Zabadani, the last rebel bastion on Syria's border with Lebanon, are headed to Lebanon and Turkey before they will be returned to other parts of Syria. The monitor says more than 300 civilians and fighters are leaving the villages of Foua and Kfarya.

Elsewhere in Syria, authorities say several people were killed and many others wound in twin bombings in the central city of Homs.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which took place even as the evacuation of other towns got under way.

More than 250,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which has forced more than 4 million others to flee the country since it began in 2011.

In a rare show of agreement, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on December 18 endorsing an international roadmap for Syrian peace.

On Saturday, U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said he aimed to convene peace talks January 25 in Geneva.  He said those talks would include the "broadest possible spectrum of the Syrian opposition and others" and that they will require the "full cooperation" of all parties to the conflict.

The statement also said continuing developments on the ground "should not be allowed to derail" peace initiatives.

Geneva was the site of two rounds of U.N.-brokered peace talks early last year between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels who have been fighting to oust him since 2011.

Those negotiations ended with little progress, and momentum for a peace deal evaporated while the conflict became more complex with the addition of Islamic State militants seizing large portions of eastern Syria.  But in recent months the push for peace has been renewed, including several international meetings bringing together world powers with a commitment to get the warring sides talking again.

Diplomats such as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have promoted ending the civil war as the most important step in defeating Islamic State fighters and bringing stability to the region.
 voanews.com
28/12/15
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