(CNN) -- Emboldened rebels fighting to hasten the fall of Syria's government set their sights on the capital, Damascus, as diplomats went into high gear amid concerns about chemical weapons.

"Our country will be free, we have no one but God," protesters rallying against President Bashar al-Assad chanted Friday in Douma, outside the capital. "The glad tidings are coming."
The fight for control of Damascus is being waged largely in its suburbs, where rebel forces say the casualty count has increased in recent days. And so has talk of a turning point in Syria's 21-month civil war.

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