Raqqa to be part of 'federal Syria', U.S.-backed militia says

By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Raqqa will be part of a decentralized federal Syria now the city has been freed from Islamic State, the U.S.-backed militias that captured it said on Friday, tying its political future to Kurdish-led autonomy plans for northern Syria. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the people of the majority Arab city and surrounding province would decide their own future "within the framework of a decentralized, federal, democratic Syria". In a declaration formally announcing Raqqa's liberation from Islamic State after four months of battles, the SDF pledged "to protect the frontiers of the province against all external threats", and to hand control to a civil council from the city.

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