#syria developments

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BEIRUT | The Latest: Kurdish group says it has French IS fighter

BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on Syria developments (all times local): 6:45 p.m.

A U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish group says it has detained a French Islamic State group fighter linked to terror attacks in Paris and Nice in 2015 and 2016.

The Syrian Democratic Forces say they captured Adrien Lionel Kiyali on Saturday in a region in north Syria that was recaptured in 2017 from IS control.

In a statement Thursday, the SDF said Kiyali was hiding in the region around Raqqa, the former Syria capital of the IS group, and waiting to cross into Turkey and then travel on to Europe. The group says Kiyali crossed into Syria in 2015.

French media reported his name as Adrien Guihal. In recordings for the Islamic State group, Guihal claimed responsibility for the July 2016 truck attack in Nice as well as the double killings of two French police officials at their home in Magnanville.

The newspaper Liberation reports that Guihal is a convert to Islam who studied Arabic in Egypt and was close to Fabien Clain, another French Islamic State member who himself claimed responsibility for the November 2015 attacks in Paris. ___ 10:45 a.m.

A Syria war-monitoring group says at least 12 pro-government fighters were killed in airstrikes the previous night in the country’s east.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says none of the fatalities were Syrian nationals but foreign fighters.

Syria’s government forces have relied on support from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and also regional militias organized by Iran to wage war on rebels and Islamic State militants.

In Damascus, government media reported early on Thursday that international coalition aircraft struck Syrian army positions near the front lines with IS in eastern Syria.

The Observatory says the U.S.-led coalition was likely behind the strikes but the Pentagon said it had “no information to substantiate those reports.”

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BEIRUT | The Latest: UN chief says Mideast 'peril' threatens security

BEIRUT | April 13, 2018 (AP)(STL.News)  — The Latest on Syria developments (all times local): 5:40 p.m.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the Middle East is in such “peril” today that it has become a threat to international peace and security — and Syria “represents the most serious threat.”

The U.N. chief told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Friday called by Russia that the highly volatile situation risks “escalation, fragmentation and division as far as the eye can see with profound regional and global ramifications.”

Guterres said “the Cold War is back — with a vengeance but with a difference,” because safeguards that managed the risk of escalation in the past “no longer seem to be present.”

He cited the Palestinian-Israeli divide, the Sunni-Shiite divide “evident from the Gulf to the Mediterranean,” and other divisive factors reflected in a multiplicity of conflicts.

But Guterres said Syria today is the most serious, and “there is no military solution to the conflict.” ___ 4:30 p.m.

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to coordinate their actions to avoid further military escalation in Syria.

A suspected poison gas attack in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, which killed more than 40 people, has drawn international outrage and prompted the United States and its allies to consider a military strike on Syria. France is reported to be one of the strongest backers of a possible strike which Russia strongly opposes.

The Kremlin said on Friday in its readout of the phone call between the two presidents that Putin and Macron agreed to ask their foreign policy chiefs to “keep in close contact” to “de-escalate” the situation in Syria.

Putin was quoted as urging for a “thorough and objective probe” into the reports of the chemical weapons attack. The Kremlin said both Putin and Macron lauded the upcoming visit of the international chemical watchdog’s fact-finding mission to Syria and pledged to join efforts to provide necessary assistance to that mission. ___ 4:05 p.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep concerns” over the deterioration of the situation in Syria in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to a statement of the French presidency, Macron calls for dialogue between France and Russia to “continue and intensify” to bring peace and stability to Syria.

He “regretted” the Russian veto at the U.N. Security Council which prevented a “united and firm response” after a suspected gas attack last week in Douma, Syria.

Macron said Thursday on French national television France has proof that the Syrian government launched chlorine gas attacks and has crossed a line that could prompt French airstrikes.

The U.S., France and Britain have been consulting about launching a military strike in Syria. ___ 3:30 p.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has urged calm and efforts to restitute peace in Syria during separate calls this week with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Erdogan also told reporters on Friday that tensions between the two countries over a suspected chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma now seem to have eased.

Erdogan says: “What we insisted on tenaciously was the fact that is not right for tensions to heat up; we made requests concerning the restitution of peace and the end of the tragedy that is going on.”

The Turkish leader also said he sent video recordings concerning the “painful and disastrous scenes” in eastern Ghouta and Douma to Putin through an envoy of the Russian leader. Erdogan did not elaborate.

___ 3:20 p.m.

France’s foreign minister has cancelled trips to Albania and Slovenia because of rising global tensions around Syria. The move Friday came as the U.S., France and Britain are in extensive consultations about launching a military strike on Syria in retaliation for suspected chemical weapons attacks.

Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said in a statement to the official STA news agency that “due to the Syria crisis,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian cancelled his planned visit to Slovenia on Friday and Saturday. Albania’s Foreign Ministry said Le Drian canceled a trip there planned Friday “due to international developments in the security field.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday he has proof that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was behind chlorine attacks in recent days. Syria’s government denies responsibility. ___

2:35 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says the use of chemical weapon against civilians in a Damascus suburb is “unforgivable” but says Turkey is urging all sides to refrain from actions that will cause further turmoil in Syria.

Yildirim on Friday again condemned the “heinous” the attack in Douma and said the perpetrators should “pay a price.”

“However … any action that would lead to the failure or harm activities led by Turkey, Iran and Russia toward a lasting peace should be avoided,” Yildirim said. He was referring to the three countries’ efforts to reduce violence in Syria.

Syrian opposition activists and medics say a suspected gas attack last week killed more than 40 people in Douma. The Syrian government has denied the allegations. ___ 1:35 p.m.

Russia’s foreign minister has asserted that a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma last weekend was fabricated with the help of an unspecified foreign intelligence agency.

Sergey Lavrov says Russian experts have inspected the site of the alleged attack in Douma, just east of Damascus, and found no trace of chemical weapons. He says Moscow has “irrefutable information that it was another fabrication.”

Lavrov spoke to reporters in Moscow on Friday.

He said that “intelligence agencies of a state that is now striving to spearhead a Russo-phobic campaign were involved in that fabrication.” He didn’t elaborate or name the state.

The attack has drawn international outrage and prompted the United States and its allies to consider a military strike on Syria, something Moscow has strongly warned against.