Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday that the opposition forces would also be asked to suspend attacks.
"The government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing ... and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks all over the city of Aleppo from a date which we will be announcing from Damascus," the envoy told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.
Aleppo is divided into a rebel-controlled west and government-held east. De Mistura wants to see a UN-monitored "freeze zone" that will calm violence there, allow more humanitarian aid access and act as the first step towards a wider solution to the conflict.
He said a UN mission would announce the start date of the "freeze" after arriving in Damascus and seek the same agreement with the opposition.
De Mistura said he had "no illusions but a glimmer of hope, bearing in mind that it is our duty to protect civilians wherever we can while we are still hoping to find a political solution".
Opposition sceptical
Aleppo-based opposition activists have expressed fears that the government would exploit a truce to gather its forces to fight elsewhere, and they have questioned how a ceasefire could work with fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the area.
The Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, recently dismissed de Mistura's proposal as a conspiracy that would allow Syrian government forces to re-group for more assaults.
Local truces have largely succeeded in several areas near Damascus and the central city of Homs, but the deals were seen as heavily lopsided in favour of the government, and the US State Department has described them as closer to "surrender arrangements".
De Mistura angered Syrian opposition leaders last week with his comments that Assad remains "part of the solution" in reducing violence in the nearly four-year conflict.
The UN estimates that the conflict has killed 220,000 people. Millions have fled to neighbouring countries. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
18/2/15
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A unit of the Syrian army on Tuesday reached a rebel-besieged town in the province of Aleppo after breaking the rebels' defenses there, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV and local media said...
ReplyDeleteA group of the Syrian army fighters reached the long-besieged Shiite town of Zahra, in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo, said the report, adding that the achievement came due to the progress the Syrian army has made in the northern countryside of Aleppo on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM said that the Syrian troops succeeded to break the siege imposed on Zahra and the nearby town of Nubul.
However, the Syrian army has yet to officially declare breaking the rebels' sieges on both towns......................http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/908137.shtml
18/2/15
Syria 'agrees to stop Aleppo strikes for six weeks'...
ReplyDeleteUN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura says Damascus is prepared to suspend its aerial bombardment of Aleppo for six weeks for a trial ceasefire.
Mr de Mistura said the Syrian pledge offered a glimmer of hope although it is unclear when it would take effect.
The opposition Syrian National Council says the government will be judged by actions rather than words.
Government forces have been engaged in heavy fighting as they try to cut a crucial rebel supply route.
More than 100 soldiers and rebels were reported to have been killed on Tuesday as the army captured several villages north of the city.......................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31514447
18/2/15
The Islamic Front Syrian opposition group has claimed to have killed 195 regime soldiers in fighting on Tuesday and seized control of villages from the government in Aleppo, northern Syria...
ReplyDeleteThe Islamic Front said it killed 90 regime soldiers in the al-Mallah area, 60 in Ratyan town and 45 in al-Rashedin village as well as capturing a large number of soldiers who are backed by Shiite militias, according to Salih Anadani, an Islamic Front spokesman.
“Intense clashes took place near Hardantin village after retaking control of al-Mallah area and Ratyan town,” Anadani said.
Syrian opposition began protests in March 2011 to topple President Bashar al-Assad, a struggle that turned into a civil war in July of that year after regime forces violently suppressed demonstrations.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/467147--syrian-rebels-kill-195-soldiers-in-fighting
18/2/15