A main Syrian opposition group linked to several small, moderate rebel factions says they will deal “positively” with the truce brokered by the USA and Russian Federation.
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“In this regard we are even more concerned about the humanitarian situation in Aleppo and its neighbourhood, and it is more than urgent to provide humanitarian aid to those areas as soon as possible”, he added.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reiterated his determination to reconquer all of Syria from what he termed “terrorists”, making it clear he has no plans to completely stop fighting to crush the five-year-old rebellion against his regime.
“While walking through the war-torn city of Daraya, Assad told one Syrian media outlet, “. the Syrian state is determined to retake every area from the terrorists and restore security and safety”.
-Russian accord on Syria that was announced in Geneva on Saturday as “a last chance.to save a united Syria”.
Assad’s family has ruled Syria for 45 years. He’s also a member of the Syrian opposition.
Nationalist rebel groups, including factions backed by Assad’s foreign enemies, wrote to Washington on Sunday to express deep concerns.
Kerry said humanitarian assistance needed to urgently start flowing, including in all areas of Aleppo.
Moscow and Washington back opposite sides in the conflict.
The US and Russian Federation brokered a pact to pause the violence on Friday after months of back and forth talks.
One of the groups that could be increasingly targeted is Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, or Front for the Conquest of Syria, the former al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra. Terrorist groups, including ISIS and Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, are not included in the agreement and military operations against them will continue.
“Assad is not supposed to be bombing the opposition, because there is a cease-fire”, Kerry told journalists at the State Department.
“We want to know what the guarantees are”, said Salem al-Muslet, spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee, which groups political and military opposition factions.
“We have food rations packed and ready to go, but we must be certain the ceasefire is holding with all parties before sending people and trucks into harm’s way”. In the announcement in Geneva, Kerry stressed that replacing Assad should be the ultimate goal of the deal reached with Russian Federation, a key ally of the Syrian President.
Will this push for peace be any different to previous attempts?
Amr al-Azm has no confidence that the ceasefire will actually hold. The Assad regime, which was tottering a year ago, will be entrenched and its opposition dealt a powerful blow.
He says: “We call on all Syrians to turn toward reconciliation”.
The United States supports an alliance of rebel groups and Russian Federation supports President Bashar al-Assad.
“We come here today to replace the false freedom they tried to market at the beginning of the crisis… with real freedom”. “It’s about the regime or not”, said Lund.
“A primary goal of this agreement from our perspecitive, is to prevent the Syrian regime air force from flying or striking in any areas in which the opposition or Nusra are present”, Kirby added. He labeled the Syrian Air Force the “main driver of civilian casualties” and migrant flows.
The Observatory said an air strike in rebel-held Idlib province killed at least 13 people.
NYT notes that many Syrians are possessed by “extensive doubts” about the the ceasefire, which is expected to coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha would hold.
If that really happens, and lives are saved, that will be a positive benefit. “Two or three rockets landed in middle of the market”.
“The proof will be in the pudding”, a third defense official said.
Video from the scene showed White Helmet rescuers – the nickname for Syria Civil Defense volunteers – carefully squeezing beneath piles of stones to look for victims.
The country’s civil war began five years again when rebels sought to overthrow the Assad family rule, and there have been nearly 300,000 casualties. The Syrian government and its allies have endorsed the deal.
“Russia courts John Kerry like a high school prom date whose trousers you want to get in to”, Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser and current Middle East scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Gerges said the big question is whether the guns that are scheduled to fall silent Monday would remain silent in the weeks and months ahead.
