Pro-Iran Palestinian faction chiefs quit Damascus amid pressure

Two Palestinian sources told AFP Friday the leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions who were close to former Tehran-backed ruler Bashar al-Assad have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities.

One pro-Iran Palestinian factional leader who left after Assad's December ouster said on condition of anonymity that "most of the Palestinian factional leadership that received support from Tehran has left Damascus", while another still based there confirmed the development.

"The factions have fully handed over weapons in their headquarters or with their cadres" to the new authorities, the first leader said, a move confirmed by a third Palestinian source from a small faction in Damascus.