US
and Russia reach tentative agreement for Syria ceasefire
Pause
in fighting to begin on Monday night, allowing humanitarian aid to
flow – with Russian and US forces set to launch joint airstrikes
against extremists
Julian
Borger World affairs editor
Saturday 10
September 2016 00.12 BST
The US and Russia
agreed a tentative ceasefire deal for Syria late on Friday night,
intended to lead the way to a joint US-Russian air campaign against
Islamic State and other extremist groups and new negotiations on the
country’s political future.
The deal was
announced by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, and his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, after 13 hours of talks in Geneva and a
tense wait while Kerry consulted others in his administration by
phone to Washington.
Both were cautious
in describing the deal but said it was a possible “turning point”
after more than five years of a brutal conflict that has taken over
400,000 lives.
“No one is
building this based on trust. It is based on oversight, compliance,
mutual interest,” Kerry said. “This is an opportunity, and not
more than that until it becomes a reality.”
Lavrov described the
situation in Syria as a “quagmire” with multiple warring parties,
some of whom would seek to undermine the US-Russian deal. For that
reason, he added, much of the deal would remain secret to prevent
efforts at sabotage. But the Russian foreign minister said Russia had
secured the agreement of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus.
Russia will do “what
depends on us”, Lavrov promised, but noted “not everything does”.
As part of the
complex agreement, a seven-day pause in the fighting would begin on
Monday evening, the beginning of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
During that time, the Syrian army would relax its stranglehold on
rebel held areas of Aleppo allowing for the delivery of humanitarian
aid to the starving city, while rebels would stop fighting around
government areas.
The Syrian regime
would suspend airstrikes on rebel-held areas around the country, the
main source of civilian casualties.
If the ceasefire
holds, the Russian and US military would start planning joint air
operations against extremist groups, including Isis and al-Nusra
Front (also referred to as the Front for the Conquest of Syria). The
Syrian air force would stay out of zones being targeted by the US and
Russia. The US is also aiming to convince other rebel groups to
separate themselves from the Nusra Front where they have been
fighting the regime together.
“Today the United
States and Russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce
violence, reduce suffering and resume movement toward a negotiated
peace and a transition in Syria ... that if followed, has ability to
provide a turning point, a moment of change,” said Kerry.
Lavrov said he hoped
the ceasefire would lead to the prompt resumption of negotiations
over Syria’s political future. Kerry said that he had been in
contact with the opposition groups in the High Negotiation Committee
over the course of the week and they were prepared to take part in
such talks if the ceasefire held and humanitarian aid was delivered
to besieged civilian populations.
Staffan de Mistura,
the UN’s special envoy for Syria, called the agreement a real
window of opportunity and said he would consult the UN secretary
general, Ban Ki-moon, on the timing of new political negotiations.
If the ceasefire
holds for the first week, US and Russian military officers would form
a joint cell to plan and coordinate airstrikes against Isis and
al-Nusra. Delineating the zones deemed to be controlled by Nusra
Front was one of the thorniest issues at the negotiations, as the
extremist group has fought with a range of other rebel organisations
on different fronts in western Syria. Disentangling them from their
allies on the ground will be one of the biggest challenges of
maintaining the ceasefire deal.
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