BEIRUT - A five-hour truce called by Russia started on Tuesday in the Syrian rebel-held eastern Ghouta near Damascus with the stated aim of allowing people to escape the area which is being targeted in a fierce offensive by the Moscow-backed government. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the daily truce from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the creation of a 'humanitarian corridor' to let civilians leave the area, where government bombardment has killed hundreds since Feb. 18.
