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The UN Security Council will convene Monday afternoon for an emergency closed door meeting regarding Syria in the aftermath of president Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country. Russia requested an emergency session according to Dmitry Polyansky, its deputy ambassador to the UN in a post on Telegram. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
UN Security Council to meet on Syria
The UN Security Council will convene Monday afternoon for an emergency closed door meeting regarding Syria in the aftermath of president Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country, multiple diplomatic sources told AFP on Sunday.
The meeting, set for 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), was requested by Russia earlier on Sunday.
- World powers vowed to work for stability in Syria and the surrounding region after Islamist-led rebels on Sunday toppled its longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
- Assad’s ally Moscow said Russian troops in Syria were on high alert but that the rebels had “guaranteed” the security of its army bases in the country.
- Iran’s foreign ministry said it expects “friendly” relations with Syria to continue.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would help to rebuild “a Syrian state that protects all minorities”.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu said Assad’s fall was thanks to blows Israel had dealt to Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, once the lynchpin of Assad’s security forces.
- Thousands of Syrians in exile the length and breadth of Turkey celebrated the fall of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in joyous scenes on Sunday.
- American warplanes struck more than 75 Islamic State targets in Syria on Sunday, hitting the group’s leaders, operatives and camps, the US military said.
- At least 26 combatants were killed Sunday as Turkish-backed Syrian fighters launched an offensive on the northern Manbij area, days after seizing a Kurdish-held enclave.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)
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