Syria is set to hand over a detailed plan for destroying its chemical arsenal Thursday, the international watchdog said, as a rebel attack near Damascus triggered widespread power outages.
But prospects for a peace conference, which the United Nations is trying to convene in parallel with the disarmament process, looked dim after key opposition leaders spurned efforts by Western and Arab powers to persuade them to attend.
Meanwhile, Syrian authorities have freed dozens of women prisoners and cleared a prominent young blogger for release in one of the final stages of a three-way hostage deal, a monitoring group said on Thursday.
President Bashar al-Assad's government has released 64 women over the past two days as part of the Qatari- and Turkish-brokered deal, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.