By Timour Azhari, Phil Stewart, Jonathan Spicer and Suleiman Al-Khalidi DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus,

Residents in northeastern Syria danced in the streets to celebrate a breakthrough pact between local Kurdish-led authorities and the new central government, while thousands of people continued to flee other areas where sectarian violence has targeted Alawites.