President Assad denied authorizing the use of chemical weapons against Syrians. Regime forces have dispersed into smaller units in advance of threatened US strikes. A veteran Italian journalist held in Syria since April has been released. The Al Nusrah Front said it planned to enter Raqqah city. Kurdish forces in Raqqah province are still clashing with the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and allied rebel groups. Al Nusrah handed over one of its fighters in Deir Izzour province to a sharia court. Regime forces fought against Al Nusrah and several other rebel battalions in the ancient Christian town of Maaloula in Reef Dimashq, but Islamist rebels now control the town.
