This is an entry from: Live: Over 100,000 bodies found in mass grave near Damascus
Evening update
14 December 2024 16:01 GMT
Good evening, Middle East Eye readers,
It is 7 PM in Damascus, and here are some of the latest developments unfolding in Syria:
- Syrians toppled the statue of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad and the founder of the Assad family's decades-long rule over Syria, in the capital city of Damascus.
- Diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and various Arab nations met in Jordan to discuss Syria as powers scramble for influence in the country.
- The Arab Ministerial Contact group on Syria has committed to supporting a peaceful and Syrian-led political transition. The group also criticised Israel's incursions into Syria and its breaking of various agreements brokered between the two countries.
- Syria's pound has also strengthened against the dollar by 20 percent since Bashar al-Assad's fall.
- Senior United Arab Emirates official Anwar Gargash said the UAE was concerned by the rebel group's "Islamist affiliation" and its affiliation to the (Muslim) Brotherhood and al-Qaeda".
- Syrian officials said Russia had begun pulling back from its frontlines in northern Syria and posts in the Alawite mountains and concentrating its arms and military hardware in two naval bases. It remains unclear whether Russia will completely withdraw from Syria, but at least one cargo plane has flown out on Saturday to Libya, said a Syrian security official stationed outside its base.
- Turkey has opened its embassy in Damascus for the first time in 12 years and raised the Turkish flag.