20/09/2013 17:19
Syria rebels agree Azaz ceasefire
Two Syrian rebel groups in the town of Azaz have agreed a ceasefire, the BBC reported.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), linked to al-Qaeda, seized the northern town on Wednesday from the larger Western-backed Free Syrian Army.
Fighting between rebel groups has raised fears of a war within a war.
The clashes come ahead of a deadline, on Saturday, for Syria to provide a list of its chemical weapons facilities as part of a US-Russian deal for the country to destroy its deadly arsenal.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, is currently holding talks in Damascus about the deal.
The BBC's Paul Wood, on the Syrian border with Turkey, says that under the ceasefire deal in Azaz the two rebel sides have agreed to exchange prisoners and hand back property.
It is unclear whether the ceasefire will have an impact on clashes between the groups elsewhere in the country, he says.
Analysts say there is more chance that the US and other Western powers may arm the Free Syrian Army if it shows a distinct separation from the Islamists.