Rebels leave Palestinian refugee camp in Syrian capital

DAMASCUS (Xinhua) - A Damascus-based Palestinian group said Sunday that "foreign" rebels evacuated the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in the Syrian capital of Damascus, as part of an agreement concluded lately to neutralize the camp from the raging Syrian conflict.

The Palestinian Popular Committee said all "foreign" rebels had left the camp, adding that members of the committee made a tour in the war-ravaged camp to ensure the implementation of the recent truce, according to a statement released by the pro-government al- Watan daily.

Last week, Damascus-based Palestinian factions said they had secured an agreement from opposition fighters inside Yarmouk camp to leave the area to facilitate the return of civilians to the battered camp.

Under the agreement, the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front withdrew from the camp along with other hardliner groups last week.

The withdrawing groups will hand over their positions to armed Palestinian groups, which have been fighting alongside other militant groups, but decided to agree on a reconciliation pact to let civilians back to their homes.

There were reports that the armed Palestinian groups will also turn themselves in to the authorities as part of the deal.

No details are available about the exact content of the new agreement, the latest in a series of unsuccessful attempts to end the suffering of more than 30,000 people trapped inside the camp.

The Yarmouk camp is a large district in southern Damascus. Among its one million residents, 170,000 are Palestinians, most of whom fled to Syria in 1948 following the establishment of the Israeli state.