120 rebels evacuate Damascus district under new deal with gov't

A total of 120 rebels evacuated a western Damascus neighborhood on Monday to rebel-held areas in the northwest of Syria under new deal concluded with the Syrian authorities, a well-informed source told Xinhua.

120 rebels evacuated the district of Qudsayah along with their families to rebel-held areas in Idlib province under the UN supervision, Maher Murhej, an opposition activist and head of the Syrian Youth Party, told Xinhua.

He said the recently-concluded deal could be a prelude to similar agreements with the rebels in areas surrounding the capital, adding that it reflected a flex stance from the government and the rebels, who have released some Syrian soldiers kidnapped in Qudsayah as part of the deal.

Qudsayah has been recently besieged by the government troops after the militants inside broke a previous truce.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the evacuated rebels were the first batch to leave Qudsayah, adding that an agreement could soon be concluded between the Syrian authorities and the rebels in the al-Waer district in the central province of Homs.

Leaking parts of the could-be agreement, the report said the Homs deal could see an end of the armed militants in al-Waer, where the rebels will be bussed outside the city on batches in a timeframe of 60 days.

The recent deals came less than a month since the international powers agreed in Vienna talks on the Syrian crisis on the need to establish a ceasefire in Syria as a first step towards achieving a political solution. Endit