First evacuations from Damascus rebel district begin

Syrian rebels and their families started to leave a the besieged Damascus suburb of Barzeh for the first time on Monday as part of an evacuation deal reached with the government, bringing the Syrian regime closer to recapturing all of the capital.

State-run Ekhbariya television cited its reporter there as saying the evacuation of fighters from Barzeh for the rebel-held Idlib province had begun to be implemented on Monday, and that 1,022 people, including 568 fighters, had left.

The channel said the evacuation would take five days, but that rebels who chose to stay could do so if they registered with the government.

An AFP photographer saw rebel fighters carrying light weapons looking on as children and women in brightly-coloured headscarves pulled their suitcases and duffel bags.

A source from the pro-government National Defence Forces said rebel fighters would be allowed to take their "personal weapons" with them.

Idlib, a mostly rural province in northwest Syria abutting the Turkish border, is a major opposition stronghold.

"Armed men and some of their families have begun leaving Barzeh on 40 buses heading towards northern Syria," the channel said in a news alert.

The evacuation began days after regime backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey signed a deal to implement "de-escalation zones" where the government and opposition will halt hostilities.

Syria's foreign minister Walid Muallem on Monday rejected any role for the United Nations or international forces in monitoring the zones.

Hours later the UN announced a new round of peace talks on Syria would begin in Switzerland on 16 May.

The deal to evacuate Barzeh district mirrors similar agreements for opposition-held territory elsewhere, allowing fighters safe passage in exchange for surrender.

Negotiations were ongoing for a similar deal in the district of Qabun, in Damascus's northeast, which forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been shelling heavily for weeks.