The Latest: France to push for new action for peace in Syria
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The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country is pushing for a diplomatic initiative for peacebuilding in Syria.
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Following a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Paris, Macron said Friday his proposal of a new international contact group on Syria would include Lebanon and other countries of the region that receive Syrian refugees.
Macron wants to organize a meeting of "investors" in Paris at the beginning of next year to help mobilizing public and private financing for refugees-related projects.
He also proposed a summit next year about the return of Syrian refugees to their country, a "key issue" for the stabilization of the region.
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He said Syrians currently living outside their country will have to play a "major role" in the future process of political transition in Syria.
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11 a.m.
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Syrian President Bashar Assad has traveled to a town recently captured from Islamic State group militants to attend Eid al-Adha prayers.
Syria's state media says President Bashar Assad prayed Friday in Bilal mosque in Qarat, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Damascus. Qarat fell during a joint offensive between Syria's army and Lebanon's Hezbollah. The Lebanese army carried out a separate but simultaneous campaign on the other side of the border, securing the shared frontier for the first time in years.
The offensive was followed by a controversial a Hezbollah-negotiated deal to transport the remaining militants to an IS-held town in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border in exchange for revealing the fate of missing Lebanese fighters.
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The deal angered Iraq and the U.S., which launched airstrikes, disrupting the deal.