The State Department quickly reversed itself. One prominent neoconservative pundit sneered, “If Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, he might want to make Secretary of State John Kerry his special envoy for U.S”.
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Rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad issued a joint statement listing deep reservations with the agreement they described as unjust, echoing concerns outlined in a letter to the United States on Sunday.
“We are hopeful that these agreements can serve as a basis for comprehensive negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis”, said Balayan.
Kerry’s comments at a news conference were the closest any American official had come to suggesting indirect USA cooperation with Assad since the civil war started in 2011.
After five years, Syrians are tired of a war that has left more than 250,000 dead and forced almost 5 million to flee the country.
“The armed forces are continuing their work, relentlessly and without hesitation, regardless of internal or external circumstances”, he said in Daraya.
The military ceasefire declaration comes as part of the recent deal between superpowers.
Kerry says Syria’s government is not supposed to bomb the opposition under the truce that went into effect Monday. The truce does not apply to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the group formerly known as Al-Nusra Front.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura could invite parties to new peace talks “at the very beginning of October”. “Now he is allowed.to target Nusra”.
Yet, as longtime Middle East correspondent Patrick Cockburn points out, it is in the interests of the Syrian government to comply with the agreement because “the USA and Russian Federation will be targeting al-Nusra, the Salafi-jihadi movement which is the main fighting arm of the non-Isis rebel movement”.
As the night went on, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, reported government air strikes and bombardment in Hama and Aleppo provinces, and shelling of rebel-held areas near Damascus, though it said the violations were not serious.
Kerry said the accord, announced after hours of talks in Geneva, would prevent Assad’s air force from flying combat missions anywhere the opposition is present, calling this provision the “bedrock of the agreement”.
A main Syrian opposition group linked to several small, moderate rebel factions says they will deal “positively” with the truce brokered by the US and Russian Federation. “A cease-fire and a suspension of the war is the desire of everyone; however, if the cost of it is that the enemies of the government and people of Syria misuse it, not only will this cease-fire not be successful, but it will be harmful”, Velayati said.
The Aleppo Media Center said it knows of five attacks that happened after the agreed upon deadline of sunset Monday for a reduction of violence.
But in Aleppo, the northern city that has emerged as the epicenter of the fighting, opposition media activist Mahmoud Raslan said government helicopters dropped crude barrel bombs on a contested neighborhood.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said while the start of the ceasefire looked good, “it is far too early to draw any definitive conclusions”.
Various militants backed by the US and its Arab allies coordinate and even sometimes fight alongside al-Qaida-linked militants.
USA and Russian officials announced the cease-fire early Saturday, saying they hoped it would facilitate humanitarian access to civilians.
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Russian Federation has voiced concern that some Syrian rebel groups may not adhere to a cease-fire and is calling on Washington to ensure their compliance.
