Anti-regime fighters to leave Syria's Western Ghouta

By Levent Tok and Mohamad Misto

ISTANBUL (AA) - A convoy of buses on Friday arrived in Western Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, to transport anti-regime fighters -- and their families -- to Syria’s Idlib and Daraa provinces.

The move comes as part of a deal between the Assad regime and an Al-Qaeda-linked group that had maintained a presence in Western Ghouta’s Beit Jinn district, which has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last four years.

A first group of evacuees, including 150 group members and their families, is scheduled to be transported from Western Ghouta to Syria’s Idlib and Daraa provinces later Friday.

Under the terms of the deal, almost 1,000 armed fighters are expected to be evacuated from the area.

Syria has just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.