Kremlin Rejects Report That Putin Asked Assad To Step Down
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected a report by the Financial Times that said Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
The FT reported that Putin has sent the then head of the GRU military intelligence agency, Igor Sergun, to Moscow to ask Assad to go.
"No. It's not so," Peskov told RIA Novosti.
Syrian Government Thanks Russia For Recapture Of Salma
The Russian military has taken Moscow-based reporters to see the town of Salma in Latakia province, which was recaptured by government troops after being in rebel hands for over three years.
Latakia Governor Ibrahim Khder al-Saalem said government forces were able to capture the city "thanks to the support of the friendly Russian aviation."
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq has published details of its latest strikes.
Syria Kurdish Leader: Opposition's Islam Army Similar To Al-Qaeda, IS
Saleh Muslim, the co-chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) has said that the Islam Army (Jaish al-Islam), one of the opposition groups involved in the Syrian peace talks, is similar in mentality to the IS group and Al-Qaeda.
"Their mentality is the same as the Nusra Front and [IS]. They clearly want to establish an Islamic state," Muslim said.
"The Riyadh [opposition] platform [set up in December] is accepting to establish an Islamic caliphate. It's not acceptable."
From our news desk:
UN: Syria Talks 'Likely' Delayed As Opposition Quarrels
The United Nations says crucial talks aimed at ending the civil war in Syria would likely be delayed by a few days as a dispute over which opposition groups will attend has intensified.
A spokeswoman for UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is hosting the talks, said the January 25 deadline to start talks in Geneva would probably be missed.
"It is likely the 25th may slip by a few days for practical reasons," Jessy Chahine said on January 21.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Davos, Switzerland, that he is confident that even if delayed, the talks will still be held.
Diplomats have been scrambling to put together a group of opposition representatives that are acceptable to the Western coalition of countries fighting Islamic extremist groups, the Syrian government, and Russia -- a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Previous attempts to have peace talks collapsed in 2014.
The nearly 5-year-old war has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.
Germany Arrests Syrian For 'War Crime'
Deutsche Welle has more on the reports that German police have arrested a Syrian man suspected of carrying out a "war crime."
According to DW, the suspect is a 24-year-old Syrian named as Suliman A.-S..
He was arrested near the southwest German city of Stuttgart and is suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of a UN peacekeeper in Syria in February 2013.
Members of the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front abducted an employee of a peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights. The militants threatened to kill the captive and demanded a ransom.
Suliman A.S. is suspected of involvement in guarding the hostage from March-June 2013.
The hostage escaped in October 2013.
'Putin Asked Assad To Step Down'
The Financial Times is reporting that before his death on January 3, Col. Gen. Igor Sergun of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, was sent to Syria to with a message from President Vladimir Putin -- to ask Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Assad "angrily refused," the FT says, citing two senior Western intelligence officials.
People close to the Syrian regime say suspicions about Russia’s intentions have been growing in Damascus for some time. “That mood of elation when Russia first got involved lasted for a while, but then people got more pessimistic,” said one Damascus businessman. “Assad’s people started to realize that having the big brother defending them meant he could also demand things of them too.”
Mr Assad has also been scrupulous in rooting out any powerful figures who might one day stand as an alternative to his leadership.
Syria Losses May Force Some IS Leaders To Move To Libya
IS losses in Syria and Iraq may push the militant group to relocate some of its leaders to Libya, the EU's counter terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has told AFP.
De Kerchove also warned that air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition and Russia, as well as ground operations by Iraqi and Syrian government troops, could lead IS militants to carry out more Paris-style attacks in Europe.
Iraqi PM Asks Turkey To Pull Troops Out Of Iraq
Iraq's prime minister Haider al-Abadi is appealing to Turkey to pull its troops out of Iraqi territory and help better fight the IS militant group.
Abadi told AP that he is "very keen" to have good ties with Turkey. However, Ankara has not responded to his government's question about why Turkish troops are in Iraq.
"We have to have an answer," Abadi said.