Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is prepared to take part in talks in the Syrian crisis in New York in December -- but only if certain conditions are met, Russian news agencies are reporting.
"First, it must be ensured that we are able to fulfil the decision of the previous meeting regarding approving lists of terrorists and the delegation of the Syrian opposition. Second, the place and time must be suitable for all parties to the Vienna process without exceptions, because the gathering can only take place at full strength," Lavrov said.
Lavrov was referring to a decision taken in November by participants in talks on Syria in Vienna that Jordan would coordinate efforts to compile a common list of terrorist groups in Syria.
Lavrov added that the "Vienna group, as it formed over the past two meetings -- October 30 and November 14 -- is a balanced, efficient team of foreign players who are able to create balanced and fair conditions for intra-Syrian dialogue."
This just in from Lebanon's Daily Star regarding the accusations by Syria that the U.S.-led coalition hit a Syrian army camp in Deir Ezzor province, killing three.
The U.S,.-led coalition denied the claims this morning.
The Syrian authorities have released 35 detained opposition members in Homs, ahead of a cease fire deal that will mean the departure of thousands of rebels from the city.
Their release is part of a deal to evacuate rebels from the Homs neighborhood of Al-Waer, the only area of the city under opposition control.
Among those released was a 62-year-old woman, Dahouk Qudzi, who was held for two years and who says her son is also a detainee, according to Reuters.
African militant group Al-Mourabitoun has published a photo it says shows the two perpetrators of the November 20 attack on a luxury hotel in Mali's capital, in which 20 people were killed.
The two men in the photograph are dressed in military fatigues and are holding AK-47 rifles. They are standing in front of a pick-up truck bearing a black flag and that appears to be the emblem of a militant group, Reuters report.
A photo caption said that the men were "two knights from the knights of martyrdom...carried out an operation on the Radisson hotel, killing in it dozens of foreigners of various nationalities."
Al-Mourabitoun is a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group last month dropped the most bombs in its 16-month campaign in Iraq and Syria, according to new Air Force data, Bloomberg reports.
According to the data obtained by Bloomberg, the coalition used 3,271 munitions in November, almost double the 1,683 used in June.
Russian, Saudi FMs Talk Syria Ahead Of Tomorrow's Opposition Talks In Riyadh
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
The telephone call came ahead of a meeting of Syrian opposition groups hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh starting tomorrow and running through December 10.
"Lavrov called for ensuring that the meeting of Syrian opposition representatives had the most representative character," the Foreign Ministry said.
The the official Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday that "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent an invitation to all the moderate portions of the Syrian opposition of different types and trends, and from its ethnic, sectarian and political spectrum inside and outside Syria."
The IS group and Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al-Nusra Front will not be at the conference.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq has requested that Russia refrain from using its air space for its Syria missions.
KRG Interior Minister Kareem Sinjari met with Russia's Consul General to Erbil, Viktor Simakov, today for talks, according to Kurdish news site Rudaw. Sinjari reportedly asking Simakov to ask Moscow to find new routes for aircraft and cruise missiles that are using Kurdish air space.
Baghdad asked the KRG to suspend flights at its two airports for 48 hours because Russia was targeting IS across the border from Syria, a Kurdish airport official told Rudaw late Sunday.
Most of the six French nationals on trial in Paris for alleged involvement in a recruitment network for European militants fighting in Syria have portrayed themselves as naive amateurs, AP reports.
One of the suspects, Paul M'Barga, 23, who had a photograph taken of himself in Syria holding a Kalashnikov rifle told the court that carrying the weapon was "a disguise."
"It's like when you're little and you put on a Spiderman costume," he said.
The six accused face up to ten years in prison.
Russia's TASS news agency has been given a copy of an anti-IS recruitment brochure designed by the CIS Antiterrorism Center and Russia's Civic Chamber to help parents and teachers.
The brochure includes indicators that are intended to help parents realize that their children have been influenced by IS recruiters.
The indicators include "enthusiasm for religious literature" and "using Arabic words and Islamic terminology."
Russian is the "third most popular among recriuters" and "terrorists believe that Russia is a good prospect for recruiting youth," according to Elena Sutormina, who leads the Civic Chamber's "Opposing IS Recruitment in Russia" project.
The CIS Antiterrorism Center and the Civic Chamber also spoke to TASS about its new monitoring program to detect IS recruitment websites, named Laplace's Demon.
'People Join IS Out Of Hunger'
A Syrian who fled with his family to Turkey from IS's de facto capital, Raqqa, has told CNN that daily life in the Syrian city had become unbearable.
"You can count the number of doctors on one hand and they only service IS. Every day hundreds gather for free food hand outs. It's not a lot. You stand there being humiliated trying to get something to eat," Suleiman, a former teacher, said.
"IS gives anything for free to people who join them. The rest of us get nothing. There is no food, electricity or money. The people join IS out of hunger"