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War on terror shouldn’t be affected by ceasefire: Syria

He said the opposition will not stop fighting if Assad does not leave office.

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The UN Security Council is expected to vote Friday on a US-Russian draft resolution endorsing the Syria ceasefire, diplomats said.

The agreement brokered by Washington and Moscow will see a new ceasefire take effect on Saturday, although military efforts will continue against the Islamic State militants, Syria’s al Qaida branch and any other militia designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council.

A considerable number of ethnic Armenians, a lot of them being descendants of the 1915 genocide in Ottoman Turkey, however, still remain in Syria, bearing the hardships of the conflict along with their countrymen of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds.

“The Americans are taking note of our concerns and we are waiting for their replies”, Al Meslet said.

Obama said that halting hostilities will allow the United States and its partners, including Russian Federation, to focus on ISIL.

The Kremlin said the two leaders discussed the deal in a phone call and that Assad noted that the proposals laid out in the agreement were an “important step in the direction of a political settlement”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, insisted it was “premature” to speak of any other plans. He did not elaborate.

According to the agreement announced Monday, a task force headed by the United States and Russian Federation is responsible for delineating territories held by IS and Al-Qaeda that would be excluded from the agreement.

“The Russian Federation and the United States will establish a communication hotline and, if necessary and appropriate, a working group to exchange relevant information after the cessation of hostilities has gone into effect”, the joint statement said as reported by CNN.

The Observatory, which tracks Syria’s civil war, said Tuesday that it has documented the death of 271,138 people since the country’s crisis began five years ago. “How can (Russia) offer guarantees while it is part of the problem”, Alloush said.

He said cease-fire declarations already have been signed by the government and opposition representatives in several areas in the provinces of Homs and Latakia.

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Kerry said, according to Reuters, Assad will have to make “some real decisions about the formation of a transitional governance process that’s real”, adding: “It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer”.

Syrian government forces patrol near Aleppo's thermal power plant after they took control of the area from Islamic State group fighters. AFP