For nearly five years, Russia has managed to balance a delicate alliance of rivals in Syria —  joining Iran in backing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad while partnering with Turkey – Damascus’s enemy –  to tackle the Islamic State. The latest flareup of fighting in Syria’s Idlib province — where Moscow’s allies in Damascus are engaged in an increasingly bloody standoff with Turkish forces — could undermine the Kremlin’s growing clout as a Middle East power broker, say some experts. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.
 
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