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Fighting in Syria intensifies as opposition digs in heels Fighting in Syria intensifies as opposition digs in heels
(about 4 hours later)
BEIRUT — The Syrian opposition coalition negotiating in Geneva said Tuesday there can be no solution in Syria with President Bashar Assad in power, and called for international monitors to observe a cessation of hostilities agreement that has all but collapsed. GENEVA — Syria’s top opposition leader vowed to fight “even with stones” to depose President Bashar Assad, shifting sharply to a tone of conflict over conciliation as peace talks in Geneva teetered near collapse Tuesday amid a new surge in fighting — including government airstrikes that left dozens dead.
The head of the U.S.- and Saudi-backed coalition, Riad Hijab, also called on the U.N. Security Council to take firm actions against violators — a day after the opposition said it is suspending its participation talks in Geneva as violence rages at home. Angry and defiant, Riad Hijab of the Western-backed Syrian High Negotiations Committee thundered home the opposition coalition’s decision to walk back — if not entirely away — from U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva. He demanded more Security Council oversight of an increasingly wobbly cease-fire as Assad’s troops battled rebel fighters in various parts of the country.
Hijab also said a clear timetable for the political transition in Syria is a must — adding such a transition can’t include Assad. The calculated gamble to jeopardize what diplomats have called the best chance in years to bring a diplomatic end to Syria’s five-year war came amid the opposition group’s growing frustration over unproductive peace talks and hundreds of government cease-fire violations in recent weeks.
“There cannot be a solution in Syria while Bashar Assad is present,” he said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 44 people — mostly civilians — died in government airstrikes on opposition-held towns in northern Idlib province on Tuesday. Government warplanes also bombed areas in the central Homs and Hama provinces, activists said.
As the Geneva talks teetered on collapse, Syrian activists said airstrikes targeted two opposition-held towns in northwestern Syria, killing 44 civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three children were among the victims and that it expects the death toll to rise further. Salem Meslet, the High Negotiations Committee spokesman, said the deadly strikes validated the coalition’s decision to suspend participation in the Geneva talks. Calling the strikes a “massacre of innocents,” Meslet said that “Assad is telling the world he has no interest in diplomacy or peace.”
The group said the towns of Maarat al-Numan and Kafranbel in Idlib province were hit, both known as pro-opposition strongholds. Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said the strikes were among the deadliest since the cease-fire took effect in Syria at the end of February. He did not say who was behind the airstrikes. The opposition coalition accuses the government of preparing an assault on the city of Aleppo, ignoring its demands for the release of thousands of detainees, and rejecting or avoiding requests for U.N.-led humanitarian aid shipments in recent weeks. The opposition says those are signs of bad faith by Assad’s side and accuses it of stalling for time in the Geneva talks.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said extremists took control of the Syrian opposition group, effectively hijacking the Syrian peace talks. Moscow is a major ally of Assad. “We cannot continue to be in discussions in Geneva when our people are dying of hunger and bombardments,” Hijab told a news conference. “We will fight no matter the circumstances. We will fight even with stones, and will not surrender.”
Alexei Borodavkin told the Russian Tass news agency on Tuesday that “the suspension of the Syrian opposition delegation’s participation in peace talks is proof that, unfortunately, extremists took control within the delegation.” “There cannot be a political process that prolongs the life of this regime,” he said. “For us, as of yesterday, we are out of the political process.”
Borodavkin said the talks will continue without the groups who pulled out, implying that the extremists were backed by Saudi Arabia, and saying that opposition groups “other than the ‘Riyadh’ groups, would still participate in the peace talks. He demanded deployment of international monitors to inspect adherence to the cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia in late February. While calling the United States a “friend” of the opposition, Hijab also put some blame on the U.S., saying it has responsibilities in upholding human rights that “are being violated on a daily basis in Syria.”
Fighting, meanwhile, intensified in Syria as government forces sought to repel a rebel offensive on a government stronghold. The rebels had said they launched the offensive in rural Latakia in response to government violations of the truce, and to “redress injustices.” Government warplanes also bombed areas in the central Homs and Hama provinces and in northern Idlib province, activists said. “We demand that the United States shoulder its responsibility,” he said. “Words are not enough, and humanitarian support is not enough. We need action on the ground.”
In Geneva, Hijab said during a lengthy press conference that the opposition coalition can’t take part in talks while the Syrian regime carries on with its military campaign and denies humanitarian access to besieged areas or ones held by the rebels. His comments come despite earlier remarks by the U.N. envoy who said the opposition will remain in Geneva to engage in technical discussions until he can “take stock” of the situation on Friday. The opposition coalition’s decision to suspend participation in the Geneva talks has strained the finely crafted mediation by the U.N. Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, whose office continued holding discussions with smaller opposition groups. De Mistura has said he would review the state of the talks on Friday.
“The United Nations Security Council must meet and reconsider this (cessation of hostilities) agreement and there must be international monitors on the ground ... (to) decide who violates this truce,” Hijab said. “We are not waiting for reevaluation on Thursday or Friday. For us, as of yesterday, we are out of the political process.” De Mistura’s office declined to comment on Hijab’s statement.
Hijab said he will be leaving Geneva with other members of the delegation. But he said a technical team will remain in the city, although its members will not go to the United Nations headquarters. Mohammed Alloush, the opposition coalition’s main negotiator, said its delegation would only return if Assad’s government implemented international agreements and halted airstrikes. In comments to The Associated Press, Alloush said he was leaving Geneva because he didn’t want to be part of an “absurd” process that may not reach a viable political solution.
While the indirect talks were to focus on political transition, the warring sides became bogged down on Assad’s role in it. Aided by Russian air power which entered Syrian skies in late September, the Syrian army and allied militiamen have reversed the tide of the war in recent months, making rapid advances against its opponents. Hijab said he too was leaving, but that a High Negotiations Committee team will remain — even if its members won’t go to the U.N. offices that have hosted the talks on-and-off since early February. In the talks, the two sides have met with de Mistura at separate times, but not face-to-face.
Hijab said the government had benefited from the cease-fire to advance on rebel positions while its allies continued to supply it with weapons and fighters to change the balance of power on the ground. Russia, a key backer of Assad, lashed out at the pullback. Russia’s ambassador in Geneva, Alexei Borodavkin, told the Russian news agency TASS on Tuesday that the High Negotiations Committee’s suspended participation in the talks “is proof that, unfortunately, extremists took control within the delegation.”
Hijab complained that supplies and ammunition were denied to rebel forces during the truce period. He said he hoped the U.S., a main backer of some rebel groups, would continue supplying weapons. In a conference call with journalists, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, reaffirmed Moscow’s support for Assad and the talks. In a telephone call Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama, Putin stressed support for dialogue and the cease-fire, according to Peskov.
“We will fight no matter the circumstances. We will fight even with stones, and will not surrender,” he said. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. would continue to push both sides to participate in the talks and called on Russia to use its influence with Assad to force the government to honor the cease-fire agreement.
The cessation of hostilities agreement, in effect since late February, has frayed in many parts of the country. While the indirect talks were to focus on political transition, the two sides got bogged down on Assad’s future. Aided by the Russian air power that entered Syrian skies in late September, the Syrian army and allied militiamen have reversed the tide of the war in recent months, making rapid advances against opposing forces, including the radical Islamic State group, which is not in the peace process.
On Tuesday, activists reported government airstrikes and violence in Homs, Idlib, Hama. Under a blanket of airstrikes, government troops restored control of most of the villages and hills it lost to rebels a day earlier during their offensive in rural Latakia, reported the Local Coordination Committee, an activist-operated media forum and al-Manar TV, affiliated with the pro-Assad Lebanese Hezbollah group. Hijab accused the government of using the cease-fire to advance on rebel positions and said Assad’s biggest allies, Russia and Iran, continued to supply his forces with weapons and fighters. He complained that supplies and ammunition were denied to rebel forces, and said he hoped that the U.S would continue supplying weapons to some rebel groups.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least five people were killed, including a child, in government airstrikes near Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province. On Tuesday, government troops restored control of most of the villages and hills it lost to rebels a day earlier in their offensive in the government-held coastal region of Latakia, according to the Local Coordination Committee, an activist-operated media forum, and al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with the pro-Assad Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Meanwhile, the LCC reported government airstrikes, including barrel bombs, in multiple locations in Homs province. The group said there was intense fighting in Kafer-Laha in central Homs. The Local Coordination Committee reported government airstrikes, including barrel bombs, in multiple locations in Homs province. The group said there was intense fighting in Kafer-Laha in central Homs.
Tuesday’s violence came a day after the Syrian opposition said it was pausing its formal participation in the Geneva talks because of what it said were hundreds of government violations of a cease-fire agreement over two months.
Also, the Kremlin spokesman says Russia will continue to support further talks in Geneva.
During a conference call on Tuesday with journalists, Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed Russia’s support for Assad and said Russia would continue to oppose terrorist groups.
According to Peskov, President Putin, when speaking to U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday, stressed the need to continue dialogue and maintain the current U.S.-Russia brokered ceasefire.
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Keaten reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Philip Issa in Beirut, and Katherine Jacobsen in Moscow contributed to this report Issa reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Katherine Jacobsen in Moscow contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.