Syria army, rebels pursue talks on ceasefire near capital

AFP, BEIRUT: Syria’s army and rebels pursued talks to reach a 15-day ceasefire in a rebel stronghold east of Damascus Thursday as fighting subsided in the area, a monitor and security sources said. The two sides had been locked in talks overnight in the hopes of reaching a ceasefire deal by 6:00 am (0400 GMT), in what would be the first such agreement since new international efforts on ending Syria’s conflict began in Vienna last month. A deal would also mark the first temporary truce in the Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital, which has been devastated by fighting since the outbreak of Syria’s conflict in March 2011. “They failed to reach an agreement on the ceasefire by this morning, but the negotiations are ongoing,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Syria army, rebels pursue talks on ceasefire near capital

AFP, BEIRUT: Syrias army and rebels pursued talks to reach a 15-day ceasefire in a rebel stronghold east of Damascus Thursday as fighting subsided in the area, a monitor and security sources said. The two sides had been locked in talks overnight in the hopes of reaching a ceasefire deal by 6:00 am (0400 GMT), in what would be the first such agreement since new international efforts on ending Syrias conflict began in Vienna last month. A deal would also mark the first temporary truce in the Eastern Ghouta region east of the capital, which has been devastated by fighting since the outbreak of Syrias conflict in March 2011. They failed to reach an agreement on the ceasefire by this morning, but the negotiations are ongoing, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.