As Damascus accepted a US-Russian plan for a “cessation of hostilities” between the government and rebels due to take effect on Saturday, heavy Russian air strikes were also said to be targeting one of the last roads into opposition-held parts of Aleppo.
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The committee, which contains political and armed opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, added that there was still a detailed list of criticisms which needed to be addressed before any truce could work. It gave no further details.
It was not immediately clear whether the various sides that signed up to the plan, including Damascus and its ally Russian Federation, as well as a range of insurgent groups fighting against them, were respecting the halt in fighting.
It however warned that the Syrian army has the right to respond to any violation by the opposition forces against the people, or the military forces.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for an effective supervision of the truce deal planned for Syria, saying the terrorists should not use the lull in the fighting for receiving more weapons and funds.
Hope remains hesitant, however.
The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously demanded that all parties to the civil war in Syria comply with the terms of a U.S.-Russian deal on a “cessation of hostilities”. The aid group dropped 21 tons of humanitarian assistance for residents trapped in the besieged city Deir Ezzor, but it remains unclear whether the aid drop successfully reached its target.
“We are expecting our American partners to shift to concrete deeds as soon as possible instead of letters and words”, it said in an apparent dig at Kerry’s Plan B comment.
It said he had “confirmed the readiness of the Syrian government to facilitate the establishment of a ceasefire”.
Recent gains made by Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State has also raised tensions with Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbor, which has fought for decades against a Kurdish separatist insurgency.
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“If Daesh (IS) and al Nusra are kept outside the ceasefire, then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are”, Mr Erdogan said. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Friday he wants to restart peace talks on March 7.
