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US,
Russia agree to include Aleppo in Syrian ceasefire deal – US State
Dept
RT,
4
May, 2016
The
US State Department has confirmed that Moscow and Washington have
agreed that the ceasefire in Syria should include the city of Aleppo,
which has recently been the scene of the county’s heaviest
fighting.
The
truce came into force in Aleppo at 12:01 am on Wednesday, the US
State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said in a statement on
Wednesday.
"We
have seen an overall decrease in violence in these areas, even though
there have been reports of continued fighting in some locations,"
he said.
"Our
objective remains, and has always been, a single nationwide cessation
of hostilities covering all of Syria – not a series of local
truces," Toner added.
According
to the Syrian military, a 48-hour “regime of silence” is set for
Aleppo starting Thursday.
The
United Nations “have taken notice” of the Aleppo ceasefire
announcement, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman said during a Security Council meeting.
Feltman
once again urged all sides involved in the conflict to begin
observing the truce immediately.
Russia’s
UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said that over 90 percent of Syrian towns
and villages have supported the ceasefire since the inclusion of
Aleppo.
The
ceasefire in Syria doesn’t apply to terrorist organizations,
including Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front.
The
French and German foreign ministers praised the ceasefire in Aleppo,
saying it would be critical to renewing peace talks on ending Syria’s
civil war.
“I
believe everyone knows and can conclude that there could be no return
to the political talks in Geneva if a ceasefire in and around Aleppo
is not observed,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said on Wednesday prior to the official announcement of the
agreement.
Read
more
U.N.
mediator Staffan de Mistura. © Denis Balibouse‘Miracle ceasefire’
must be fostered as one and only plan for Syria – UN envoy de
Mistura to RT
The
larger part of Aleppo province is now under the control of the Syrian
army, but the situation in the area is complicated, Defense Ministry
spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.
“Aleppo
resembles a kind of a layered cake, with the largest part controlled
by government forces, part of the area held by Nusra Front militants,
while another part is controlled by the so-called opposition,” he
explained.
According
to the spokesman, Russia has notified the US side of a number of
documented occasions when opposition groups were either forced to
fight for Nusra Front or joined the jihadists voluntarily.
Nusra
Front is using every opportunity and all means possible to derail the
peace process in Syria, he said.
The
“regime of silence” is intended to prevent the warring sides from
engaging in an endless cycle of retaliating for shellings and other
provocations, Konashenkov explained.
Earlier,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian and US
militaries discussed the Aleppo ceasefire late on Tuesday.
According
to UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura, the stalled intra-Syrian
peace talks between the government and opposition could be resumed if
a ceasefire for Aleppo is agreed upon.
In
an earlier exclusive interview with RT, de Mistura stressed that
“there is no military solution to this conflict” in Syria.
“There’s
been an attempt for five years to have victory and a defeat. There is
no victory or defeat on this. There is only a political solution,
which means a negotiation. But negotiation needs to have a
ceasefire,” the envoy said.
The
Geneva peace talks became gridlocked in April after the Saudi-backed
Syrian opposition withdrew from the negotiations, citing the
deteriorating situation in Aleppo.
Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, remains a hotspot in the Syrian conflict, with various parts of the city held by different groups.
Ongoing
hostilities in Aleppo prevented it from being included in the “regime
of silence” that was announced by Russia and the US for parts of
Latakia and Damascus last week.
On
Tuesday, a hospital in the city was attacked by a rocket, killing at
least three people and injuring more than a dozen, state-run Sana
news agency said, adding that women and children were among the
casualties. The facility is in an area under the control of
government forces, and was targeted by a radical rebel group,
according to Sana.
From
the BBC, a grudging mention
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