Syria's Raqqa expected to join Kurdish-led federalism - Kurdish leader

FILE PICTURE: A view of the Euphrates river during sunset in Raqqa province, Syria May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib/File Photo

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The northern Syrian city of Raqqa is expected to join a decentralised system of government being set up by Syrian Kurdish groups and their allies once it is freed from Islamic State, a leading Kurdish politician told Reuters on Monday.

Raqqa, Islamic State's main urban base of operations in Syria, is the focus of an ongoing campaign by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters that is closing in on the city.