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Executive Summary for November 7th

To give you an overview of the latest news, we’ve organized the most recent Syrian developments in a curated summary. .

Published on Nov. 7, 2013 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Inspectors Verify One More Chemical Weapons Site Using Photographic Evidence. U.N.-backed inspectors say they’ve examined 22 out of the 23 declared chemical weapons sites in Syria, using images provided by the Assad regime, to verify that the facility was destroyed and abandoned.

Citing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the New York Times reports that “the findings were based on images from ‘sealed cameras used by Syrian personnel’ at a site in the northern Aleppo region that had previously been too dangerous to visit because of the country’s bloody civil war.

“The next deadline facing the Syrian authorities is Nov. 15 when they are supposed to produce a plan for the destruction of the country’s stockpile of chemical weapons,” according to the Times.

Regime Troops, Backed by Hezbollah, Take Rebel Enclave Near Damascus. President Bashar al-Assad’s army took back the strategic town of Sbeineh, south of Damascus, as part of its prolonged campaign to reclaim rebel-held suburbs around the capital.

“Sbeineh was one of the most important rebel positions on Damascus’ outskirts. Rebels in southern Damascus have now had practically all their supply routes cut off,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

Al Arabiya reports that the town had been through a “suffocating siege” for the past year, in a regime strategy that appears to be paying off – making the rebel-held areas softer targets.

“The takeover of Sbeineh comes weeks after the fall from rebel hands of nearby Husseiniyeh, Ziabiyeh <wbr>and Bweida,” said Al Arabiya, a Saudi-owned broadcaster.

It quoted an activist east of Damascus, who said the army “is definitely advancing. It is because the areas have been under siege for such a long time. It’s natural.”

Russian Diplomats Meet with Assad’s Uncle, Hoping to Jump-Start Negotiations. As an alternative track to the stalled Geneva II peace talks, Russia has “stepped up their efforts to promote alternate opposition figures, meeting in Geneva with Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of President Bashar al-Assad,” according to the New York Times. Rifaat al-Assad left Syria in 1984, after attempting a coup against Hafez al-Assad, father of the current president, Bashar al-Assad.

Family politics aside, Rifaat al-Assad has said he wants to lead a transition of power in Syria; his son told the Times that he hopes to attend Geneva II “as an opposition figure whose presence would reassure government supporters and help bring about a compromise.”

“It was unclear whether other parties would accept even sitting with Rifaat al-Assad at talks, much less whether talks will take place. But the Russian move was a sign of casting about for new ways to break the impasse,” the Times reports.

Rifaat al-Assad has been criticized for his role in the elder Assad’s regime and investigated for his massive wealth and property holdings in France.

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:

BBCDamascus and Suweida Hit By Deadly Blast

Foreign Policy: Saudi Arabia’s Shadow War

New York Times: WHO, Fighting Polio in Syria, Says More Children Need Vaccinations

Al Monitor: ISIS Practicing Statehood in Raqqa

CNNMideast Art Auction Bids to Help Syria Child Refugees

Reuters: Turkish PM Denies Support for al-Qaida in Syria

Bloomberg: Assad’s Syria Offers $3,600 Rewards to Capture Foreign Fighters

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