By Timour Azhari, Phil Stewart, Jonathan Spicer and Suleiman Al-Khalidi DAMASCUS (Reuters) -The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus,

The Syrian Transitional Government has reached a rather unexpected agreement with the Kurdish armed groups of the Arab Republic regarding their integration into state institutions. This happened as part of efforts to unite the country's various communities after a decade of civil war and amid clashes between government forces and Syrian

QAMISHLI, Syria — Residents in northeastern Syria danced in the streets to celebrate a breakthrough pact between local Kurdish-led authorities and the new central government, while thousands of people continued to flee other areas where sectarian violence has targeted Alawites.