Deal on for al-Qaida fighters to leave Damascus
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Syrian state media say an agreement has been reached to evacuate al-Qaida-linked fighters from a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, in return for the release of dozens of people that the insurgents have been holding for years.
State news agency SANA says the deal also includes allowing some 5,000 people in two northwestern villages besieged by insurgents to move to government-held areas.
The al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee will set free 85 people it has been holding in the northwestern region of Jisr al-Shughour.
Syrian troops have been on the offensive against militants in Yarmouk camp. The deal does not include members of the Islamic State group.
Syria's state TV said buses entered Monday the villages of Kfarya and Foua to begin evacuating some 1,500 civilians in a first stage of the agreement.
