Friday, Mar 29, 2024 | Last Update : 03:00 AM IST

  Doubts over US-Russia deal for Syria

Doubts over US-Russia deal for Syria

REUTERS
Published : Feb 23, 2016, 11:58 pm IST
Updated : Feb 23, 2016, 11:58 pm IST

ISIS fighters were reported to have tightened their grip on a Syrian government supply route to Aleppo on Tuesday as the Army battled to retake the road, which is important to its campaign to retake t

ISIS fighters were reported to have tightened their grip on a Syrian government supply route to Aleppo on Tuesday as the Army battled to retake the road, which is important to its campaign to retake the city.

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 airstrikes were also said to be targeting one of the last roads into Opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

The plan announced by the US and Russia on Monday is the result of intensive diplomacy to end the five-year-long war. The Russian defence ministry said Tuesday that coordination centre for reconciliation of warring parties has been opened at Hmeymim air base in Syria.

However, rebels say the exclusion of ISIS and the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front will give the government a pretext to keep attacking them because its fighters are widely spread in Opposition-held areas.

The Syrian government said it would coordinate with Russia to define which groups and areas would be included in what it called a “halt to combat operations”.

But there were serious doubts if the truce could take effect on Saturday as planned. Analysts say that given the facts on the ground — in particular the complicated make-up of Syria’s Opposition forces and frequently shifting frontlines — the ceasefire may already be doomed to fail.

“‘Cessation of Hostilities’ allows attacks on Nusra. That likely dooms it, since Russia/regime tend to hit others & call em Nusra (or ISIS),” Noah Bonsey, a senior analyst at the Inter-national Crisis Group, said on Twitter.

Damascus also warned that continued foreign support for the rebels could wreck the agreement. Damascus, backed by ground forces, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is making significant advances, including near the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the road remained cut for a second day.

A US-Russian statement said the two countries and others would work together to delineate the territory held by ISIS, Nusra Front, and other militant groups excluded from the truce. In Geneva, UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said: “This is a cessation of hostilities that we hope will take force very quickly and hope provide breathing space for intra-Syrian talks to resume.”

The main, Saudi-backed Syrian Opposition body said late on Monday it “consented to” the international efforts, but said acceptance of a truce was conditional on an end to blockades of rebel-held areas, free access for humanitarian aid, a release of detainees, and a halt to air strikes against civilians.

The powerful Kurdish YPG militia is “seriously examining” the US-Russian plan to decide whether to take part, a YPG official said. “There is so far no decision,” said the official.

Britain said on Tuesday it had seen disturbing evidence that Syrian Kurdish forces were coordinating with the Syrian government and the Russian Air Force.

“It will only succeed if there is a major change of behaviour by the Syrian regime and its backers,” British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said Monday.

Turkey said it welcomed plans for the halt to fighting but was not optimistic about a positive outcome to talks on a political transition. Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said Ankara had reservations about actions that Russian forces could take against Syria’s moderate Opposition and civilians.

Location: Lebanon, Beirut