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Meeting with Syrian Interim Govt was 'Good Opportunity' for Diplomacy, Berlin Says

A person holds a Syrian opposition flag with the word "Freedom" on it during a demonstration celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain, December 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A person holds a Syrian opposition flag with the word "Freedom" on it during a demonstration celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain, December 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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Meeting with Syrian Interim Govt was 'Good Opportunity' for Diplomacy, Berlin Says

A person holds a Syrian opposition flag with the word "Freedom" on it during a demonstration celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain, December 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A person holds a Syrian opposition flag with the word "Freedom" on it during a demonstration celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain, December 8, 2024. (Reuters)

German diplomats' meeting with members of the Syrian interim government was a good opportunity to make contact with the country's new rulers, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said.

"This was the first good opportunity to get in touch with HTS and the de facto guardians in Damascus," the spokesperson said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group left in charge following the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad, Reuters reported.

Tuesday's talks in Damascus focused on stabilizing Syria and looked at ways to resume Germany's diplomatic presence there, according to the spokesperson.

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Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

The Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, uncovered at least 21 corpses as well as incomplete human remains on Wednesday in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of the capital Damascus.

The discovery was made at a site previously used by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi militias, both allies of deposed President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s civil war.

The site included a field kitchen, a drugstore and a morgue, according to Ammar al-Salmo, an official with the White Helmets, a volunteer organization that operated in areas that were controlled by the opposition.

Rescue teams in white hazmat suits searched the site, located not far from the revered shrine of Sayyida Zeinab. The remains were placed into black bags and loaded onto a truck as bystanders from the neighborhood looked on.

“Some (of the remains) are skeletons, others are incomplete, and there are bags of small bones. We cannot yet determine the number of victims,” al-Salmo said.

“Damascus has become a mass grave,” he said, pointing out the growing reports of war-related graves and burial sites in the capital and other places in Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah provided Assad’s government with military, financial and logistical support during the civil war.