DUSHANBE, February 12, 2016, Asia-Plus – According to international media outlets, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says diplomats meeting in Munich have agreed to work with Syrian parties to implement a “nationwide cessation of hostilities.”
CBS News
reports that just before 1 a.m. in Munich, Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced that they have agreed to a “cessation of hostilities” within one week, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas of Syria that are currently being attacked by Iranian and Russian-backed forces.
BBC
reports that the halt will not apply to the battle against jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front.
Kerry pointed out that this would be just a pause in fighting and not a ceasefire to end the five year long Syrian civil war.
A U.S. official confirmed to
CBS News
that aid deliveries are expected to begin this week, possibly as soon as Friday.
Kerry said the deliveries will be made via airdrops and other methods into besieged areas including Madaya, Deir Ezzor and the outskirts of Damascus, Brennan reports.
Kerry and Lavrov, who had been pressing for a ceasefire to begin March 1, said the U.S. and Russia would co-chair both the working group on humanitarian aid as well as a task force that will try to deal with the “modalities” of the temporary truce. Included will be members of the military along with representatives from countries that are supporting various armed groups in Syria.
Russia had proposed the March 1 ceasefire, but the U.S. and others saw that as a ploy to give Moscow and the Syrian army three more weeks to try to crush Western- and Arab-backed rebels. The U.S. countered with demands for an immediate stop to the fighting. Both countries appeared to have made concessions on that front.
The talk of new ceasefire plans comes as the U.S., Russia and more than a dozen other countries meet in Munich to try to halt five years of civil war in the Arab country.
Five years of conflict have reportedly killed more than a quarter-million people, created Europe”s biggest refugee crisis since World War II and allowed ISIS to carve out its own territory across parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Overall, the United Nations says almost half a million people are besieged in Syria.
