Syrians stuck around Aleppo as evacuation deal stalls

Militants and members of their families from Madaya and Zabadani board on buses heading to Ramousseh crossing in Aleppo, Syria, on April 14, 2017, as part of the deal between the opposition and the Syrian government. (AFP / George Ourfalian)

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Thousands of Syrians were stuck in and around Aleppo on Saturday as a deal to evacuate two Shiite villages in return for Sunni rebels and their families being allowed to leave two besieged towns near Damascus stalled, a monitor and activists said.
Rebels and civilians who had left Madaya near Damascus on Friday sat outside rows of coaches in government-held Aleppo city, waiting to move onto their final destination of insurgent-held Idlib, pictures sent by a pro-opposition activist showed.
Meanwhile residents and pro-government fighters who had left the two rebel-besieged Shiite villages in Idlib province waited still in insurgent territory on Aleppo’s outskirts to cross into the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The British-based Observatory said the delay was because rebel fighters from another town included in the deal, Zabadani near Damascus, had not yet been granted safe passage out. (Reporting by John Davison)