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Syria foreign minister says no to east Aleppo autonomous zone

U.N. mediator for Syria Staffan de Mistura (L) talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem (R) during a meeting in Damascus, Syria in this handout picture provided by SANA on April 11, 2016. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem said on Sunday that Staffan De Mistura, the special envoy of the United Nations secretary general, had proposed that rebel-held east Aleppo have an autonomous administration but that Damascus rejected this. "This was completely rejected... This is a violation of our sovereignty," he said in a televised news conference after holding talks with De Mistura in Damascus on Sunday. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by Jason Neely)