Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited eastern Ghouta near Damascus on Sunday, meeting with soldiers in an area recaptured from Islamist militants. Rebels seized control of eastern Ghouta in 2012. But in a month-long assault, government forces and their allies have retaken more than 80 percent of the enclave. They have split the rebel-held territory into three besieged zones. State television says the Syrian army has given militants in the smallest of these zones until 3pm local time on Sunday to withdraw.