Talks stall over last rebel-held zone in Syria’s Ghouta

DOUMA AFP March 26, 2018-Talks over the fate of Douma, the final rebel-held zone in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, have stalled over divisions within the Islamist faction that holds the area, a monitor 
said Monday.   

Battered by a five-week regime offensive, two major rebel factions have agreed in recent days to leave other pockets of Ghouta for opposition-held territory in the country’s northwest after talks with Russia.   Negotiations are now underway with Islamist group Jaish al-Islam, which controls Ghouta’s largest town, Douma.   

Heavy fighting and strikes on the town have largely subsided, but talks have yet to bear fruit. 

 
 “Negotiations are ongoing, but they’ve been delayed by internal differences in the rebel group,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.