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Syrian President Says Victory Within Grasp in Aleppo

by VOA News

   With his forces on the cusp of victory over rebels in Aleppo, Syrian
   President Bashar al-Assad says the fight will continue until the
   five-year-old conflict is over.

   Assad made the vow in an interview published Thursday in the
   state-owned newspaper al-Watan, one day after Syria's Russian-backed
   army gained control over three-quarters of Aleppo's Old City, which had
   been under rebel control since 2012.

   Assad said a victory in Aleppo would not mean an end to the war, but
   represents a huge step towards that end.

   The president also rejected any thoughts of a truce in Aleppo, as long
   as the rebels remain in the city. Rebel forces have proposed a five-day
   cease-fire to ensure the humanitarian evacuation of civilians,
   promising to discuss the future of Aleppo once that had been achieved.

   The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had
   evacuated about 150 civilians in need of urgent medical care from a
   hospital in the Old City. "Many of them cannot move and need special
   attention and care," ICRC spokeswoman Marianne Gasser told reporters.

   Tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped in eastern
   Aleppo despite a huge surge of refugees fleeing in the past two weeks
   for the relative safety of government-controlled western districts.
   Monitors last week estimated that 18,000 civilians in the east had
   moved into western neighborhoods and more than 9,000 others into a
   Kurdish-controlled district.

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will hold another round of talks
   with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Hamburg, Germany
   Thursday, after failing to come to a resolution on the matter
   Wednesday. The Associated Press quotes Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
   Serge Ryabkov as saying Moscow and Washington are close to reaching a
   deal on a cease-fire in Aleppo.

   The United States, along with Canada, France, Germany, Italy and
   Britain, called Wednesday for an immediate cease-fire in Aleppo and
   condemned Russia for interfering with attempts to bring humanitarian
   aid to those civilians trapped in the Syrian city.

   Dec. 5, 2016 file photo, a ball of fire rises following an air strike
   hits insurgents positions in eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria.

   The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors and reports on
   Syria's civil war, says 369 civilians have been killed in the offensive
   on east Aleppo, including 45 children. Another 92 civilians --
   including 34 children -- were killed by rebel shelling on
   government-held west Aleppo.

   U.N. special envoy Stefan de Mistura said last week he expected eastern
   Aleppo to fall to government forces by the end of December, without a
   negotiated settlement to end the four-year rebel occupation.

   Hamid Malaji returns to his looted home with his wife Amina Hamawy,
   center and his daughter Radia Malaji, in the Hanano district of eastern
   Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 4, 2016.