An official source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry has said that de-escalation zone agreements reached in Astana-6 meeting do not legitimize the existence of any Turkish force on the Syrian territories, adding that the Syrian Arab Republic government considers such existence “illegal”.
The source noted that the Syrian government deputized the Russian and Iranian parties to complete the final agreement on Idleb province as long as they are the two guarantor states of the Syrian side, pointing out that it is an opportunity for the Turkish side and Erdogan’s government which guarantee the armed terrorist groups to retreat from their position in support of terrorism and stop arming, financing and supplying terrorists and sending them to Syria which will help restoring security to these areas…………..
Armed men in more regions laid down weapons and joined peace agreement with the Syrian Army, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its latest report.
The Ministry said in its report that gunmen in more regions have ended fight with Syrian government forces, adding, “The total number of regions, towns and villages that have thus far endorsed peace agreement with Damascus stands at 2,131.”
The ministry added that talks are underway between the government officials and representatives of militants in the province of Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Homs, Quneitra and Damascus to join the peace plan…..
In Syria, a new de-escalation zone is about to come into force after intense talks. That’s according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. RT’s Daniel Hawkins has the details.
(TURN ON ENG SUBS) ~ Representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and the moderate Syrian opposition have reached an agreement on the third de-escalation zone north of the city of Homs, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday. “On July 31, a new round of talks between representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and the moderate Syrian opposition was held in Cairo,” he said. “The meeting’s participants reached an agreement concerning the functioning of the third de-escalation zone north of the city of Homs, which will include 84 settlements with a population of more than 147,000,” Konashenkov added. The general pointed out that in early July, during the fifth round of talks in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana, a decision had been made to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria. Two of them – in southwest Syria and on the outskirts of Damascus (in Eastern Ghouta) – have already been set up. A ceasefire in the third de-escalation zone will enter into force on August 3 starting from 12:00 p.m. local time, Konashenkov said. “According to the reached agreement, today, on August 3, starting from 12:00 p.m. local time, armed units of the moderate opposition and government troops will cease fire from all weapons,”he said. “I would like to emphasize that, just like in the two previously set up de-escalation zones, the ceasefire in the Homs de-escalation zone will not apply to members of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups [both outlawed in Russia – TASS],”Konashenkov added.“Moreover, in accordance with the agreement, the moderate opposition has pledged to drive all the units joining the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra out of the areas of the Homs Governorate that it controls,”the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman said. According to him, starting from August 4, Russian military police will establish two check points along the line of contact north of Homs, as well as three observation posts. Konashenkov said that military police were entrusted with the tasks of separating the opposing sides, monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire and ensuring the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, as well as medical and casualty evacuation. “All the sick and wounded will be provided with an opportunity to undergo medical treatment either at the Russian military hospital or Syrian hospitals,”Konashenkov noted.
“The opposition, in turn, will unblock the section of the Homs-Hama highway passing through the de-escalation zone,” he added. According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, local councils will address the issues of everyday life in the de-escalation zone. Besides, a National Justice Committee is planned to be set up which will comprise “representatives of the opposition and all major ethnic, political and religious groups residing in the region,” the Russian general added. “Russia will continue its efforts aimed at restoring peace in Syria,” Konashenkov said. He pointed out that in the past ten days, as many as 52 settlements had joined the ceasefire agreement, while Russia had carried out 41 humanitarian missions, providing more than 55 tonnes of food to Syrian civilians. More at:Syrian News Agency&http://tass.com/defense/958881 Credit to Russian Ministry of Defense This page at: https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/de-escalation-zone-3/
Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem stressed that the Syrian government supports the memorandum on the creation of four de-escalation zones in Syria which was signed at the end of the fourth round of Astana talks on Syria.
“You followed up what was achieved at Astana 4, particularly with regard to signing a memorandum on establishing four de-escalation zones in Syria,” al-Moallem said in a press conference on Monday, adding “the Syrian Government supported what came in the memorandum based on its keenness on stopping the bloodshed and to improve the living conditions of the Syrian population and in the hope that all armed parties will be committed to the provisions of the memorandum. But if any violation takes place, the Syrian army will be prepared to respond in a decisive manner.”
On the possibility of Jabhat al-Nusra, which is not part of the memorandum, carrying out attacks, al-Moallem said that it’s natural for al-Nusra to be left out of the memo as it’s a terrorist organization, saying “the Syrian Government is not afraid of its right to respond for any violation of the memorandum of the de-escalation zones and it shoulders the guarantor states the first responsibility…we are confident that the Russian and the Iranian guarantors are performing their duty in implementing this memorandum.”
He added “I don’t exclude the possibility of violating the memorandum of the de-escalation areas by Turkey which is one of the guarantor states who signed the memorandum.”…………
“The terrorists will not comply with this resolution, that is of a ceasefire or stopping the launch of mortars. No, they would not. It is because they are not Syrians. For if they were Syrians, all of this wouldn’t have happened. They are not Syrians, they are from outside Syria”.
Naser Ahmed, resident of Harasta suburb of Damascus (Arabic): “This agreement is good, generally speaking. We hope it will be a good omen for the country. We, here, as the Syrian state, the inhabitants of Al-Assad Suburb, have suffered so much from mortars which came from Eastern Ghouta. Thank God for they did not hit, violating the agreement which came into effect since yesterday night. We hope it will be a good omen to prevent the bloodshed of people. The government used to take care of everyone. The reconciliations are good for the situation. We live in this country”.
Ali Mohamed, resident of Harasta suburb of Damascus (Arabic):“I don’t trust the terrorists whatsoever, for we saw nothing from them but deceit. Nevertheless, we are optimistic. The government is more ethical than them. They [the government] would have demolished the whole area if they wanted to, but we are more ethical than them. We are seeking the last of the bloodshed; this is why this reconciliation is very good”.
Basel Slalom, resident of Harasta suburb of Damascus (Arabic):“Actually, this agreement gives us great hope to reduce what we call ‘the light military operations’ inside the city. It would reduce mortars a bit from falling on citizens, so that they would be able to move and continue working. More generally, it would be an aid to the Syrian Arab Army, allowing for the army to concentrate on fighting IS in distant areas, in order to finish them”.
Basel Slalom, resident of Harasta suburb of Damascus (Arabic):“We suffered a lot from mortars. We are close to Douma, Harasta, and other areas in Ghouta. Many mortars used to fall several times a day. There are a lot of martyrs, especially children and women. They are civilians who did nothing, they were not carrying arms or shooting, and they suffered a lot. There are public utilities, cars, and houses which were damaged, and a lot of people were wronged by these mortars. And that was no good in the end. What have the terrorists achieved? They have only managed to shed more light on them as terrorists, and assert that they adhere to no commitments or promises”.
Mona Khalil, resident of Harasta suburb of Damascus (Arabic):“The terrorists will not comply with this resolution, that is of a ceasefire or stopping the launch of mortars. No, they would not. It is because they are not Syrians. For if they were Syrians, all of this wouldn’t have happened. They are not Syrians, they are from outside Syria”.
President Bashar al-Assad released an interview (on 19 January 2017) to the Japanese TBS TV channel, in which he explained the reasons of the Astana talks. Here is the Full Video, in English, of the interview ~ [Full Transcript here].
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that following the Astana talks that a major split occured between the Syrian ‘opposition’, during a press conference in Moscow, Friday.
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson (Russian):“After the meeting in Astana, a split occurred in the ranks of anti-government armed formations, as Jabhat-al-Nusra terrorists attempted massive attacks on the groups of armed opposition that sent their representatives to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In this situation, a part of the moderate opposition requested Ahrar al-Sham to protect them, as they are a more powerful group which is seeking neutrality in the conflict of Jabhat-al Nusra, with supporters present at the Astana meeting. Meanwhile, the gangs whose chieftains are set on continuing the armed struggle with the government have started to actively pledge allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra. In order to unite its supporters, al-Nusra has created a new structure – the United Liberation of the Levant – whose militants have engaged in fighting against Ahrar al-Sham.”
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson (Russian):“We also noticed in statements from the political and armed opposition, that they are trying to prejudge the results of the UN Geneva negotiations; which are scheduled to take place on February 20. Once again the opposition representatives set ultimatum-like preconditions with which they stipulate their participation in the peace talks in Geneva. Separately, I would like to mention the demand for an apology from the United Nations and the Arab League Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura for his statement, where he proposed to form an opposition delegation himself, if the oppositionists would not do that by themselves. From our side, we fully support De Mistura’s determination for a quick continuation of the intra-Syrian contacts in Geneva. We think that the attempts to delay or to postpone the peace talks are unacceptable.”
Conférence de presse du Dr Bachar al-Jaafari, suite à la Déclaration finale d’Astana, par l’ambassadeur de Syrie a l’ONU Bachar al-Jaafari, al-Fadaiya via Mondialisation 27/1/2017
[Texte intégral]
Communiqué du Dr Bachar al-Jaafari, chef de la délégation du gouvernement syrien à Astana
Mesdames et Messieurs,
Ces deux derniers jours, nous avons travaillé dur, jour et nuit, pour le succès de cette réunion et avons fait tout notre possible pour surmonter les obstacles. C’est pourquoi, nous croyons que la réunion d’Astana a réussi à atteindre « l’objectif de cessation des hostilités pour une période déterminée » qui ouvre au dialogue politique, en cours, entre Syriens.
À cette occasion, comme je l’ai déjà fait, nous remercions la Direction du Kazakhstan de toutes les facilités qu’elle nous a accordées pour le succès de nos réunions et de nos travaux.
Nous remercions, tout particulièrement, nos amis russes et iraniens pour les énormes efforts consentis, lesquels ont efficacement contribué à cette réussite. Et cela, dans le but de stopper l’effusion du sang syrien et de travailler avec ces groupes [armés] afin de vaincre, ensemble, le terrorisme et de reconstruire la Syrie.
Et nous disons aux États de la région connus pour leur soutien aux terroristes : c’est assez. Assez ! Vous avez dilapidé les richesses de vos peuples, amené le terrorisme dans vos pays, pris la responsabilité de faire couler le sang syrien. Le temps est venu de reconsidérer les erreurs de vos politiques pour le bien de votre peuple et le bien des peuples de la région……………….
“We worked over the last two days painstakingly around the clock to make this meeting a success, and we did everything we could to remove the obstructions. Therefore, we believe that Astana meeting succeeded in achieving the goal of consolidating the cessation of hostilities for a specific period of time, which would pave the way for dialogue among the Syrians,” al-Jaafari told a press conference in the capital of Kazakhstan, that hosted a two-day meeting on the crisis in Syria.
He expressed thanks to the Kazakh leadership “for all the facilitations it provided to help our meetings and activities succeed.”
Al-Jaafari also extended thanks to the “Russian and Iranian friends” for their great efforts that have effectively contributed to make a success of the cessation of hostilities in order to reach towards stopping the Syrian bloodshed and working together with these groups to eliminate terrorism and reconstruct Syria.
“Stop playing with fire and betting on losing cards. Everybody has lost, including the countries supporting terrorism. Terrorism has arrived in their own backyards, which is something that we warned of from the very beginning,” said al-Jaafari.
“It was distressful that we had to sit in the same room with other Syrians that are linked to foreign agendas and are working for foreign authorities, and some of them are committed to terrorist groups,” said al-Jaafari, noting that this also happened before in Moscow and Geneva.
“However, no matter the cost, we would do that to save our state and our people. We do that according to a certain framework and a certain agenda, and also in light of the expected meetings, and we don’t do it without planning,” he added……………….
Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, stated that Damascus was ready to do “whatever it takes”to “stop this bloodshed”despite it being “extremely painful” for Syrian government officials to sit in the same room as other Syrians allegedly “linked to foreign agendas and working for foreign powers”. ~ He made the statement during a press conference at the International Meeting on the Syrian Settlement in Astana, Tuesday.
Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov read out a joint statement agreed on by Russia, Iran and Turkey, stating that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict. The announcement was made at the International Meeting on the Syrian Settlement in Astana on Tuesday.
The talks on the Syrian peace process concluded in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, with the three guarantor countries – Russia, Turkey and Iran – issuing a joint statement establishing trilateral support for the Syrian ceasefire and paving the way for the Geneva talks due February 8.
The Army and the Armed Forces General Command on Thursday declared a comprehensive cessation of hostilities across all the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic starting at 00:00 on 30/12/2016 in the wake of the victories and advances achieved by the Syrian armed forces on more than a front.
The Command added that the terrorist organizations of Jabhat al-Nusra and the ISIS and the groups affiliated to them are excluded from the agreement, pointing out that the ceasefire comes with the aim of creating suitable circumstances for supporting the political track of the crisis in Syria.
Moscow has blasted as “outrageous twisting of the facts” a statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who said the EU was the only party providing aid to Syria.
“It’s outrageous twisting of facts which ignores what Russia has been doing for a long time”, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also officially responded to Mogherini’s statement “with surprise,”and said that Russia, “unlike other international players, is actively supplying thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to various regions in Syria, including the liberated areas in eastern Aleppo, at the risk of Russian military lives.”
“If the high representative [Mogherini] means providing assistance to terrorists and extremists, then we don’t participate in this, indeed”, the statement added….
The Russian official’s statement comes after the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in Berlin on Wednesday, that the EU “are the ones – the ones, not among the ones – that are providing humanitarian aid, in Syria and around. I don’t see many others doing as much as we are”… … …
…Mogherini (one of the Renzi’s team), for those who know the Italian politicians, is just a ridiculous puppet in the hands of the NATO’s financial lobby …
Calls to stop liberation of East-Aleppo resemble attempts to save their puppets. Russia reiterates call on Western countries to join real efforts to defeat terrrosts in Syria, according to official statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on immediate seven-day ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo, which was submitted by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain. Russian Foreign Minister earlier described the draft resolution as “counterproductive”.
Before the vote, Russia’s UN envoy said that the country would vote against the document, informing UNSC members of Moscow’s decision.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the resolution ran counter to a solution that the US and Russia are trying to agree on for Aleppo.
“Taking into consideration the outcome of the previous pauses [in the conflict], there is absolutely no doubt that the 10-day ceasefire, which backers of the draft resolution generously want to provide the militants with, would surely be used for regrouping and rearming the extremists and would slow down the liberation of eastern Aleppo from them,” Lavrov said.
11 Security Council members supported the resolution, while Russia, China and Venezuela voted against it. Angola abstained. Russia and China have the power of veto in the UNSC…>>>…
The public sphere is recently actively used to force Anti-Russian rhetoric in the context of the Syrian crisis. There are attempts to diminish Russia’s role and depict our country as the prime cause of all the troubles in Syria. It is speculated that Moscow counts on the military solution of the conflict. The aim of this campaign is simple – to conceal the true culprits of the failure of the CoH (cessation of hostilities) in Syria and disguise the true causes of the non-fulfillment of the Russia-US agreements.
The Russian Federation made a thorough fact-based comparative analysis of implementation of the Russia-US agreements, It includes all aspects such as compliance with and monitoring of CoH, granting of humanitarian access to besieged areas, joint fight against terrorism.
Russia guaranteed the implementation of the CoH by the Syrian government. The US on the other hand were not capable to insure the implementation of the CoH by the armed groups. From February to September the opposition groups that are supposed to be under the US control committed 2,031 violations of the CoH, which claimed lives of 3,532 military personnel and 12,800 civilians.
Furthermore, the US failed to fulfill their February promise to separate Al- Nusra Front from “moderate” opposition. Russia on the other hand since March has been prepared to transfer to Washington the maps showing the zones where according to our data the terrorists are holding territory.
In the list of groups that confirmed their commitment to the CoH presented by Washington 2 belong to ISIS and 8 to the Al-Nusra Front. The American list is discredited by the inclusion of cutthroats from Ahrar al-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zenki. Besides the US probably didn’t receive any written guaranties to respect the CoH from the groups they allegedly control…>>>…
Washington included two [Syrian rebel] groups that fight together with Daesh and 8 with al-Nusra Front in the list of the participants of the ceasefire regime in Syria sent to the Russian side. Moreover the inclusion of Ahrar ash-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zenki cutthroats in this list completely discredites the American list,” the mission said in a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Moscow added that “it seems that the United States have not received any written obligations to respect the ceasefire from groups it controlls.”
“The United States has failed to fulfill its promise given in February to separate al-Nusra Front [terrorists] and moderate opposition despite the fact that Russia has been ready to provide Washington with its maps showing areas controlled by terrorists according to our data since March.”
The media campaign against Russia in media is aimed at hiding the real reasons for the failure of Russia-US deal on Syria…>>>…
Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian and Syrian air forces had stopped airstrikes on Aleppo from 10:00am local time (0700 GMT).
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in a televised meeting with military officials, said strikes had been halted from 10:00 on Tuesday.
On Monday, The Russian Defense Ministry announced a humanitarian pause in Aleppo starting from next Thursday at 08:00 am (05:00 GMT) till 04:00 pm to allow the passage of the civilians and the evacuation of the sick and the injured.
Shoigu called on the countries that have influence over armed groups in eastern Aleppo to convince their leaders to stop military action and abandon the city.
Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said that permanent ceasefire in the city of Aleppo is possible if Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists are taken out from the eastern parts of the city.
Chief of the Main Operations Department of the Russian General Staff Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy stressed that the terrorists in Aleppo are still receiving the US-made TOW antitank missile systems from their backers.
Rudskoy was quoted by TASS News Agency as saying “”According to information coming from several sources, gunmen continue receiving modern types of weapons, including US-made TOW guided antitank missiles”…. … …
Terrorists groups, which Russia expected to be separated from ‘moderate rebels’ with US help, and be subject to joint US-Russian attacks, are instead using the ongoing ceasefire to regroup, the Russian president said.
“We agreed that the Al-Nusra Front and the likes of it would be separated from the so-called healthy opposition factions, and we would be shown where the latter are located. But what we see today is not separation of the healthy part of the opposition and the terrorists. We see terrorist forces trying to regroup”, Vladimir Putin told journalists on Saturday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said: “After five days of the ceasefire, it has to be noted that only the Russian and Syrian sides have been fully implementing their commitments….the US and the so-called moderate groups under their control didn’t fulfill a single commitment undertaken in the framework of the Geneva arrangements”.
“Tensions are rising in Syria, especially in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, where opposition groups are using the cessation of hostilities to regroup forces, refill their stocks of ammunition and weapons and are preparing an offensive in order to capture new territories,” he said… … …
The truth is that the U.S. are bluffing, because they have no control over their moderate-terrorist armed gangs, they provide them weapons and give them logistics and diplomatic coverage: that’s all, then more damage they do and better is. (SFP-WP)
The Russian Defense Ministry voiced concern over the rise in the number of breaches of the truce regime committed by armed groups in Syria.
Poznikhir said this increase in breaches is directly linked to the fact that the American side hasn’t separated the “moderate opposition” from Jabhat al-Nusra, adding that Washington still hasn’t provided Russia with any precise data on the location of “moderate opposition” and their numbers in Syria, which makes it difficult to fight terrorists and deliver humanitarian aid, as the material sent by the Americans consists only of a general list of armed groups under their control without any information about the areas where they are or the names of their field leaders.
Russian Defense Ministry: “Only the Syrian army has been observing the ceasefire regime within these three days of implementation of the agreements while the US-led ‘moderate opposition’ has been increasing the number of shellings of residential quarters”.
The Syrian Army has started withdrawal of heavy military equipment to create demilitarized zone, the Russian General Staff stated on Thursday.
“The Syrian governmant troops have stopped firing and begun to withdraw their tanks, IFV and artillery to a set distance to create a demilitarized zone. The Russian Aerospace Force and the Syrian Air Force have stopped airstrikes on areas where opposition units may be located,” Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir, first deputy chief of the General Staff’s Main Operational Department, told reporters.
“The Russian side is completely fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire agreement. A checkpoint created on Castello Road has been handed over to the Red Crescent Society. The people’s self-defense units ‘Bustan’ and ‘Shield’ are defending the checkpoint,” Poznikhir said.
He added that the Russian Defense Ministry “has no information related to similar actions by opposition groups controlled by the US.” The first deputy chief of the General Staff’s Main Operational Department also said that withdrawal from Castello road in Aleppo may be halted if militants fail to do it simultaneously with the Syrian army. Moreover, the Russian General Staff voiced concern over a steady increase in ceasefire violations in Syria by opposition militants caused by Washington’s failure to separate ‘moderate opposition’ from al-Nusra Front terrorists.
The extremist groups redeploy their units to Kafr Hamrah village located to the northwest of Aleppo city amid nationwide ceasefire in Syria, a source in the city militia told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
“Terrorists are assembling a lot of fighters in Kaft Hamrah. According to our data, they are forming assault groups,” the source said. According to the source, additional units were redeployed from Idlib province to Aleppo city.
Starting from September 15, 2016 the official website of the Russian Defence Ministry launches webcast of situation in Aleppo with real time surveillance cameras in order to provide transparency of ceasefire regime implementation in the Syrian Arab Republic by the sides.
The webcast is held by two ground cameras located in al-Khalidiyah and Tel-Jobegja areas.
Open online broadcasting of situation in the eastern areas of Aleppo by an unmanned aerial vehicle has been organized for the first time.
The number of online situation monitoring posts will be increased in the nearest future.
Sunset in Damascus this evening could usher in a new chapter in the Syrian conflict – and a possible step towards peace. That’s when the ceasefire brokered in marathon talks between Russia and the US comes into effect. RT’s Lizzie Phelan is in the long-besieged city of Aleppo, where many of the locals seem unconvinced the peace will hold. RELATED: “‘Syria truce might be used to resupply US-backed rebels“
We personally do not believe a single comma of the apparent good will of the American regime, but we are also confident that Lavrov and friends know well the falsehoods and duplicity of their counterparts…
(SFP-WP)
~~~
(SANA) ~ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Friday reaching a deal to enhance the cessation of hostilities in Syria that would begin on Monday and that Russia and the US will coordinate to face terrorism and to provide the suitable conditions for the resumption of the inter-Syrian dialogue.
Lavrov added that the first step in the deal is holding a 48-hour truce then extending it for 48 more hours, and later the truce will be extended for seven consecutive days and after that a joint Russian-US coordination center will be established to coordinate air attacks against agreed terrorist targets in Syria.
~~~
…YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura are due to hold a press conference following a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Vienna on May 17 to discuss the cessation of hostilities agreement reached in February.
The final statement of the International Syria Support Group meeting in Vienna will focus on ceasefire and sending humanitarian aid to the besieged Syrian people, Lebanese media reported on Tuesday.
According to al-Mayadeen news channel, the final statement will include ways to stabilize truce, stop the attacks and increase efforts to dispatch more humanitarian aid to the Syrian people surrounded by terrorists.
The Lebanese channel also reported that the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not been mentioned in the final statement.
Also, the paragraph related to the political transition in Syria has been written based on an ambiguous formula, al-Mayadeen reported…
Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that the fourth round of dialogue with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was concluded.
In a press conference following a discussion session with de Mistura at the UN headquarters in Geneva on Friday, al-Jaafari added that we held an in-depth discussion focusing on several topics, the most important of which is the humanitarian situation.
“42 times humanitarian aid entered “unstable or restive areas” over the past four months in cooperation with the Syrian government and in coordination with the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
“219 trucks have entered the restive areas, not to mention 65 trucks that entered al-Rastan area yesterday,” al-Jaafari added, putting the figure of the locals who received humanitarian aid in unstable areas at 1, 170,000.
“We have 6.5 million internally-displaced people who have been displaced from the areas where terrorists and armed gangs exist, 90 per cent of them are living in government-controlled areas and all of them benefit from humanitarian assistance,” al-Jaafari indicated, pointing out that 1, 700, 000 people have returned to their localities and continue to receive periodical and sustained assistance by the government.
“It has become known to all, including the UN Security Council members in New York, that there are organized networks of international terrorism supervised by certain intelligence services which are sending terrorists inside Syria across Syria’s borders with neighboring countries,” he added.
Head of the Syrian Arab Republic’s delegation to the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva, Bashar al-Jaafari asserted that the dialogue can still go on with the Republic’s delegation and other delegations of the opposition even if the “Riyadh opposition” group wants to suspend its participation.
He affirmed that the Republic’s delegation has shown the highest level of discipline and commitment among all the groups participating in the intra-Syrian dialogue.
He made it clear that the opposition groups who want to be part of an expanded national government should not be linked to terrorism or follow foreign agendas and should be living in Syria, adding that the “Riyadh opposition” group is linked to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
“Al-Riyadh opposition delegation stir problems since the beginning of the process in Geneva and threaten to suspend talks or postpone them as they wait for the orders from their supports in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar,” al-Jaafari said.
“The opposition is not only restricted to the higher Commission for negotiations formed in Saudi Arabia, “al-Jaafari told Reuters , adding “If they wanted to boycott talks, they could do so, it is not a big problem for us because they are not the only representatives of the Syrian opposition.”
Le camp des agresseurs de la Syrie ayant pressenti les dangers de son échec sur le terrain, s’est tourné une fois de plus vers les manœuvres politiques et militaires censées limiter ses pertes en attendant de transformer l’essai.
L’Émissaire spécial des Nations Unies, M. Staffan de Mistura, s’est obstiné à ce que cette date coïncide avec celle fixée pour les élections législatives en Syrie le 13 avril 2016, en dépit du fait que la délégation syrienne l’en avait prévenu suffisamment à l’avance. Un comportement cherchant visiblement à pousser la délégation syrienne à refuser d’y participer pour ensuite lui reprocher de retarder ou d’«empêcher les négociations».
A sure sign of Russia’s geopolitical strength is that it can, and does, unilaterally set the international agenda. This has been made obvious again in the surprise announcement this week by President Putin to begin withdrawal of Russian military forces from Syria.
It was, recall, Russia’s earlier lightning-fast air operation in Syria at the end of last year that has led to the current diplomatic track – a track that Washington and its allies have had to belatedly conform to. Now this latest move by Russia serves to reinforce the diplomatic track, and once again it has sent Western counterparts into a tailspin.
In announcing military drawdown, Putin made it clear that it was “mission accomplished” in Syria, and that henceforth it is time for diplomacy and peace talks to take over – or at least have a chance. Moscow’s assessment was that its military objectives had been fulfilled. And it’s hard to disagree.
Of course, what the Western media conveniently omit is that Russia secured the Syrian state from collapse in the face of a criminal foreign-backed ‘insurgency’ fomented by the US government for the purpose of regime change.
Russia’s air power has, however, enabled Syria to now pursue a solid political path towards a peaceful settlement of the five-year war.
Put it another way, without Russia’s support, the Geneva talks this week would simply not be happening. No doubt the war would be grinding on into its sixth year with horrendous human suffering. Because, despite Western lies and distortions, the fact is that Washington and its allies were fueling a criminal covert war for regime change – until, that is, Putin stepped in and overturned that execrable game…
Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic affirmed that Syria and Russian are still committed to combating terrorism wherever it was in Syria.
“We received many questions and inquires since the announcement of the phone call between President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin about what has been circulated by some media institutions which are partners in shedding the Syrian blood and some social websites and internet for a group of strange stories and interpretations which are away from reality,” the Presidency said in a statement published on its page on Facebook.
The Presidency added that all those stories talk about “a Syrian-Russian dispute” which has led to the decision of decreasing the forces or that it is a Russian abandonment of combating terrorism in Syria.
The Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic affirms that the step has been taken through full coordination between the Syrian and Russian sides, adding that this step was studied with care and accuracy in light of the latest field developments, the last of which is the cessation of hostilities.
The Presidency also affirms that Syria and Russia were and still are committed to combating terrorism in a joint way.
On Monday, President Putin indicated that the Kremlin will start withdrawing its main forces in Syria, saying that the military has largely achieved its objectives.
“I think that the task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal, and so I order the defense minister to start tomorrow withdrawing the main part of our military factions from the Syrian Arab Republic,” President Putin said during a meeting with the Russian Defense and Foreign Ministries, according to RIA Novosti.
The withdrawal will begin on Tuesday.
“With the participation of the Russian military…the Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects,” the Russian president said.
“There has been a significant turning point in the fight against terrorism,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there are no links between the cessation of hostilities and the start of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.
“There are no links between the regime of cessation of hostilities and the start of [intra-Syrian] talks. All these processes should develop in parallel, in a stable way and at an increasing speed,” Russian TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying in statements on the sidelines of the Normandy Four group in Paris on Thursday.
Deir Ezzor/Aleppo, 4 March 2016 ~ Two civilians were killed and five others were injured on Friday due to a terrorist rocket attack on al-Qosour and al-Jora residential neighborhoods in Deir Ezzor city.
Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday (4 March 2016) that 41 breaches of the cessation of fighting acts by the terrorist organizations were observed during the last 48 hours.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy during a conference call Friday that the Syrian government’s decision to hold legislative elections in April does not contradict the peace process.
“The Russian side noted that a decision by the Syrian government to hold parliamentary elections in April, 2016 is being conducted in accordance with the existing Syrian constitution and does not interfere with steps to build a peaceful process to solve the crisis,” the Kremlin said following the conference call.
~ Russian Defense Ministry: “14 breaches of cessation of fighting acts by terrorist organizations were observed during the past 24 hours”.
“14 breaches were observed, 3 in Damascus, 2 in Quneitra and Lattakia, 1 in each of Hama and Daraa and 5 breaches in Aleppo, said a statement by the Russian Center for Coordinating and Observing the cessation of fighting acts, published on the Ministry’s website page.
The center added “the Russian air force didn’t carry out airstrikes against armed groups which accepted the cessation of hostilities.”
66 breaches of cessation of fighting acts have been observed since the start of applying the process at the midnight of last Friday-Saturday.
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President Bashar Hafez al-Assad: “Part of the disaster or nightmare is not only because the terrorists are killing and destroying; it’s because of the Western embargo on Syria that affected every Syrian citizen with no exception.
What those officials are ready to do in order to help alleviate this pain and nightmare in Syria? What are they going to do in order to make pressure and exert influence on countries supporting terrorists like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar in order to force them to stop smuggling terrorists and armaments and giving them all kinds of logistical support? That’s the question.
When all those countries agree, or let’s say, have the will to do their duty regarding this, I can assure you that we won’t have a problem to stop this nightmare in Syria”.
The Machiavellian strategy of pure deception and attempted stealth deployed by a litany of US Empire lies and false flags would cunningly sign a truce just as its Arab allies pre-position themselves to move forward with a massive invasion by the Saudi-led Arab Antiterrorism Coalition (a misnomer if there ever was one) to invade Syria from all directions.
This presentation examines the realistic and probable underlying plans still in place yet transparently masked by America’s so called truce starting Saturday that the US will likely still permit its proxy nation allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia to spearhead their invasion of Syria already announced two week ago. It’s the old “good cop-bad cop” strategy.
While Empire signs agreements for peace, its bloodthirsty allies are lustfully preparing for war.
As more evidence that Turkey and the Saudis are intent on expanding the war to unprecedented heights, earlier this week bigmouth Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was at it again telling der Spiegel:
We believe that introducing surface-to-air missiles in Syria is going to change the balance of power on the ground.
1 person was killed another was injured in terrorists’ attacks at al-Sheikh Maqssoud, and Suleiman Halabi neighborhoods in Aleppo city Saturday.
3 children were killed and 12 other people were injured Saturday in ten ISIS terrorists’ mortar and rocket shells against al-Joura and al-Qosour neighborhoods in Deir Ezzor.
6 civilians were killed on Saturday and several others were injured in three terrorist explosions in Salamyieh area in the eastern countryside of Hama.
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted resolution No. 2268 on cessation of combat activities in Syria.
The council reiterated commitment to Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, voicing support to settle the crisis in Syria through the UN, based on Geneva Statement and Vienna declarations.
Members of the Council called on UN Secretary General and his Special Envoy for Syria to resume the Syrian-Syrian dialogue as soon as possible.
In a statement after the Council adopted the resolution, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov stressed the need to stop the support provided for terrorist organizations by foreign sides because that hinders the political solution for the crisis in Syria.
