Roundup: Syrian army besieges IS in last pocket west of Euphrates River amid fresh round of intra-Syrian talks

DAMASCUS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army and allied fighters have besieged the Islamic State (IS) in their last pocket west of the Euphrates River, a monitor group reported on Tuesday.

The achievement came as the government and the opposition delegations are bracing for a fresh round of peace talks to end the long-lasting war.

It also came after the Syrian army and allied fighters succeeded on Tuesday to capture the town of Qoriyeh west of Euphrates River in eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province in eastern Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said besieged pocket includes the town of Hasrat, and the Syal area west of the city of al-Bukamal, which was the last IS stronghold that fell to the Syrian army earlier this month.

When the Syrian forces completely capture this IS-held pocket, the IS presence will end west of Euphrates River completely, the Observatory added.

Still, the watchdog group noted that the fate of hundreds of IS militants who withdrew recently from near the eastern city of al-Mayadeen in Deir al-Zour is unknown amid information that a group of IS militants moved into the northeastern countryside of the central province of Hama.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday the military forces' capture of the town of Qoriyeh, noting that the victory in that area is part of the military operation to clean the Euphrates Valley from the remnants of the IS group.

Following the capture of al-Bukamal earlier this month, the IS militants have lost all of their strongholds in Syria, holding pockets in northeastern Syria and a small area in the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees near the capital Damascus.

Government officials in Damascus, mainly President Bashar al-Assad, made it clear that the war on terrorism would continue in Syria until the full elimination of IS.

The progress of the Syrian army in the war on IS comes at a time when the government and the opposition groups are bracing for the fresh round of Syria talks in Geneva, which will start on Wednesday.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva to take part in the eighth round of Syrian talks, a day later than scheduled.

The government delegation's participation was apparently put on hold, particularly after the head of the opposition delegation, Nasr al-Hariri, told reporters in Geneva upon arriving there on Monday that his group insist on the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as part of any peace deal.

Apparently, Damascus has discussed the issue with its key international ally, Russia, and finally agreed to take part.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the participation of the Syrian government delegation comes following "extensive communication" between the Russian and the Syrian sides, spelling no details on the content of the communication.

On Nov. 25, The Deputy of the UN special Envoy to Syria said that the upcoming Syrian talks in Geneva would focus on discussing elections and constitution for Syria.

Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi said four baskets would be under discussion in the eighth round of Syrian talks in Geneva, adding that the focus will be on the second and third baskets, pertaining the elections and constitution.

"The stance of the special envoy (Staffan de Mistura) is clear and hasn't changed. There are four baskets that must be dealt with. As de Mistura has said in his latest brief to the UN, there will be a focus on the second and third baskets that are concerned with elections and constitution," Ramzi told reporters.

Meanwhile, Ramzi said the political process in Syria won't be an easy task.

"The political process is difficult and complicated because the situation in Syria is complicated and we are building our strategy on a step by step process and I hope the next round of Geneva talks be marked with an active participation from the government with the presence of a unified delegation from the opposition, which could be conducive in pushing the political process forward," he added.

The upcoming Geneva talks will take place just days after the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia met in the Russian resort city of Sochi, where they supported a comprehensive dialogue for Syria.

The meeting would also come after the opposition groups agreed on unifying a delegation to the fresh talks, which marks the first time for the political opposition groups to unify a delegation to the internationally-backed talks.

But inside Syria, some opposition figurers don't pin much hope on the fresh round of talks.

Munther Khadam, a Syrian opposition figure, told Xinhua that even though the political solution for Syria has been put on the right track, there is not enough force to push it forward.

"The eight round of talks in Geneva may not yield any results because there are still unripe operations in Syria," he said, attributing his pessimism to the stance of the opposition that demands the departure of Assad from power as a prelude to the solution. Enditem