The charred remains of at least 26 victims of the Bashar Assad government were located Tuesday by Syrian civil defense workers in two separate basements in rural Damascus. The discovery adds to the growing tally of mass graves unearthed since the fall of the Assad government in December.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister and a special envoy arrived in Damascus. Theirs was the first such visit since President Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Russian state news.

The new Syrian administration, which took power following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has demanded compensation from Russia during negotiations, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported on Wednesday.

Syria’s new government pressed Russia for compensation during its first talks with a Kremlin delegation since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel said Tuesday its army will remain in demilitarized zone in occupied Golan Heights ‘indefinitely’ - Anadolu Ajansı

Mr Sharaa’s drive for integration is not unprecedented. Bosnia granted citizenship to hundreds of jihadists who fought for it in the 1990s. “Granting citizenship is not so new; the whole world does it,” says Obayda Amer Ghadban, another researcher of Syrian armed groups.

Israeli troops who seized strategic ground in southern Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad will remain on the summit of Mount Hermon indefinitely, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday after visiting troops there.

Assad’s final ouster appeared abrupt, it had its roots in Syria’s 2011 antigovernment protests, and Syrians will now face many of the same problems that beset other Arab countries after their Arab Spring revolutions.

DAMASCUS, Syria — A delegation of Russian officials arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for the first such visit to Syria since the fall of former President Bashar Assad. Assad, an ally of Moscow, took refuge in Russia after his ouster in December in a lightning rebel offensive.

A delegation from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on Tuesday visited Syria’s southern Druze-majority Suwayda province and met with Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri, the Druze spiritual leader, to discuss the country's political future.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, but insist that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.