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Syria’s Assad visits eastern Ghouta as army closes in on victory

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A handout photo made available by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad meeting with Syrian army soldiers, in eastern Ghouta, on March 18, 2018. Photo: SANA handout via EPA-EFE

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday visited Syrian soldiers who appear close to defeating the last major opposition foothold near Damascus and met some of the many thousands of people uprooted during the government offensive.

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Figures close to the rebels said talks were underway with the aim of them leaving to other opposition areas or giving up arms, though rebels have publicly ruled out the kind of negotiated withdrawal that helped Assad recover Aleppo, Homs and other areas.

Troops have splintered Ghouta into three besieged zones in one of the bloodiest offensives of the seven-year war, with rebels facing their worst defeat since the battle of Aleppo in 2016.

Syrian soldiers march in the town of Saqba, Syria. Photo: Xinhua
Syrian soldiers march in the town of Saqba, Syria. Photo: Xinhua

The Syrian government has sought to drive a wedge between rival rebels who control different parts of eastern Ghouta.

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By working on separate secret talks with rebels in each region by applying varying degrees of military pressure, the government’s “divide and rule” tactics were beginning to bear fruit, one opposition source said.

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