Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Syrian Government has now backed a ceasefire deal brokered by both the US and Russian Federation. Razak, of the Nour al-Din al Zinki Brigades, part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which is backed by the West, said they were studying the peace deal but feared it merely gave the Syrian army a chance to gather forces and pour more Iranian-backed militias into Aleppo.
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“It requires unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all of the besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including Aleppo”, said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry told reporters that “bedrock” of the agreement, is Russian Federation s ensuring that Assad’s air force will no longer fly combat missions over opposition and civilian areas.
The Syrian government has “approved” a truce deal announced by Russian Federation and the United States as part of a plan to find a political solution to the crisis in the Arab country, the state news agency says.
Turkey is a leading backer of the rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
After five years of war, each side is sceptical of the other’s willingness to adhere to a ceasefire and previously attempted truces have failed.
That truce – also brokered by Moscow and Washington – saw violence drop markedly across the country but frayed after several weeks.
Daily bombardment and indiscriminate attacks on civilians resumed, particularly in the battleground northern city of Aleppo.
Standing by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, after a day of talks in Geneva, Kerry said he believed the plan would lead to talks to “stop the conflict”.
Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute warned rebels “have little faith in a long-term cessation of hostilities holding”.
“We don’t expect the regime to (comply to the deal) of its own free will”.
“We are closely following this agreement and are waiting for its details to know the conditions of its implementation”, Kodmani said by telephone.
On the other side, the USA will work to convince its allies among the opposition forces in Syria to stop associating with the Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda offshoot which the Assad regime has used to paint all opposition fighters as terrorists. -Russian military cooperation in the fight against terrorism at the center of the effort to end Syria’s war and secure a political solution.
The aftermath of a purported Assad-regime airstrike on the rebel-held city of Idlib on Saturday.
“The moderate groups will reorganise and distance themselves from the radical groups”.
But experts are more doubtful.
Mr Lavrov said, “The Syrian government has been informed of these arrangements and is ready to fulfil them”. Foremost is the question of whether there are meaningful enforcement mechanisms to deter the government from continuing to bombard civilians and regain territory from rebel groups. “It will be hard to change this mindset”.
Syria’s war has seen the country carved out into zones controlled by competing forces: regime, rebels, Kurds and jihadists. Washington would have to persuade the anti-Assad rebels it supports to end any coordination with al-Qaida and other extremist groups.
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The broad goals of the ceasefire include increasing access to humanitarian aid as well as a resumption of the truce between the warring sides so that the peace process being mediated by the United Nations can restart. “We are waiting with a lot of anxiety”.
