Evacuation of insurgents delayed

UN-brokered deal would have allowed rebels safe passage out of Damascus

A UN-brokered deal to evacuate more than 2,000 Islamic State fighters and other militants from rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Saturday has been delayed after the killing of an insurgent leader, an organization that monitors the Syrian civil conflict said.

The United Nations said it aimed to convene peace talks in Geneva on Jan 25 to try to end nearly five years of civil war, and it appealed to the warring parties not to allow events on the ground to derail the process.