Syria: rebels at the gates of the capital

Rebel factions are now around 20 kilometers from the capital Damascus, after taking control of the Daraa province in southern Syria, a rebel commander and a rebel said on Saturday. ONG.

Rami Abdel Rahmane, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), told theAFP that local rebel fighters now controlled the entire Daraa province. We are now less than 20 km from the southern entrance to the capital Damascusindicated for his part Hassan Abdel Ghani, a rebel commander.

Arrival in Iraq of hundreds of Syrian soldiers who fled the fighting

Iraqi authorities have authorized the entry into their territory of hundreds of soldiers from the Syrian army who fled fighting with rebels, theAFP two security officials, specifying that among these soldiers there were also injured people.

Syrian soldiers having fled the fighting entered via the Al-Qaim border post, theAFP a senior security official, specifying that injured people were hospitalized for treatment in the hospital in this town on the border in western Iraq. Their number amounts to 2,000 soldiers, said a second security source, officers and soldiers entered Iraq with the agreement Iraqi authorities.

Meeting on Syria begins in Doha

A meeting dedicated to Syria began on Saturday in Qatar in the presence of the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Syrian territory could not fall under the control of terrorists following the dazzling offensive by Islamist rebels.

It is unacceptable to allow a terrorist group to take control of territories in violation of existing agreements, starting with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which firmly reaffirms sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Mr Lavrov is referring to a 2015 resolution for a political settlement in Syria.

Iran, Russia and Turkey have been partners since 2017 in the so-called Astana process, initiated to silence the guns in Syria after the civil war, without being aligned on the same side of the battlefield.

Iran and Russia have long been unconditional supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey, without being directly involved on the ground, sympathetically observes the progress of the rebel movements.

The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, spoke on Saturday with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.

I had a very frank and direct conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of TurkeyMr. Araghchi told the press.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who this week called on Mr. Assad to reconcile with his peoplea wish Friday that the rebel advance continues without incidentwithout forgetting to openly cite their objective, Damascusseat of Syrian power.

Qatar, where talks are taking place on Saturday and Sunday, supported rebels at the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, but the country is now calling for a negotiated end to the conflict.

On November 27, a coalition of rebels, led by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched an offensive from its stronghold in Idleb (northwest), seizing dozens of localities and strategic cities of Aleppo (north) and Hama (center).

This is the most spectacular advance in 13 years of war in Syria.

The offensive described by Iran as terrorist represents a menace for the Middle East, his head of diplomacy said on Friday.

The terrorist threat will not be limited to Syria and poses a threat to all neighboring countries and the entire regionsaid Abbas Araghchi, adding that terrorism does not know[ssait] no boundaries.