-Russia says Syrian rebels to be brought out of Douma
Russia's military said an operation would begin on Sunday to bring fighters of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group out of their besieged enclave of Douma, Interfax reported, after the Syrian government said the group had asked for negotiations.
There was no immediate comment from Jaish al-Islam. The group so far has rejected a Russian offer of safe passage out of Douma, which is near Damascus, to rebel-held areas at the border with Turkey.
Major-General Yuri Yevtushenko, head of the Russian peace and reconciliation centre in Syria, said the operation to take "irreconciable militants" out of Douma would begin on Sunday.
