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| UN calls for Syrian ceasefire to mark Muslim holiday | UN calls for Syrian ceasefire to mark Muslim holiday |
| (4 months later) | |
| Long-suffering Syrians could face a brief respite from months of violence if a UN call for a ceasefire to mark a Muslim holiday comes into force on Thursday. | Long-suffering Syrians could face a brief respite from months of violence if a UN call for a ceasefire to mark a Muslim holiday comes into force on Thursday. |
| Lakhdar Brahimi, envoy for the UN and Arab League, told the UN security council that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has accepted a truce, though there was no confirmation from Damascus. | Lakhdar Brahimi, envoy for the UN and Arab League, told the UN security council that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has accepted a truce, though there was no confirmation from Damascus. |
| Opposition activists expressed scepticism about the prospects for a ceasefire for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which celebrates the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, and starts on Thursday. Many warned that Assad was simply playing for time. The Syrian government has said that the opposition is too disunited to observe any truce. | Opposition activists expressed scepticism about the prospects for a ceasefire for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which celebrates the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, and starts on Thursday. Many warned that Assad was simply playing for time. The Syrian government has said that the opposition is too disunited to observe any truce. |
| Abdelbaset Sieda, the head of the Syrian National Council, the main anti-Assad group in exile, told Associated Press he had little hope a ceasefire would take hold. "This regime, we don't trust it, because it is saying something and doing something else on the ground," Sieda said in an phone interview from Stockholm. | Abdelbaset Sieda, the head of the Syrian National Council, the main anti-Assad group in exile, told Associated Press he had little hope a ceasefire would take hold. "This regime, we don't trust it, because it is saying something and doing something else on the ground," Sieda said in an phone interview from Stockholm. |
| Fahd al-Misr, a spokesman for the opposition joint military command, told the Guardian: "We won't allow the regime to catch its breath and commit more massacres after the truce." | Fahd al-Misr, a spokesman for the opposition joint military command, told the Guardian: "We won't allow the regime to catch its breath and commit more massacres after the truce." |
| Jabhat al-Nusra, a jihadi group, rejected the ceasefire call as a "filthy game". | Jabhat al-Nusra, a jihadi group, rejected the ceasefire call as a "filthy game". |
| Crucially, there is no provision for international observers or monitors, without whom it is hard to see how any ceasefire could be enforced. The Arab League and UN both despatched observers earlier in the 19-month conflict, with little effect. | Crucially, there is no provision for international observers or monitors, without whom it is hard to see how any ceasefire could be enforced. The Arab League and UN both despatched observers earlier in the 19-month conflict, with little effect. |
| But it was still possible that a ceasefire could formally take effect, with rare international backing for a palliative gesture rather than an attempt to reach a comprehensive settlement of the crisis, which has already left an estimated 30,000 dead. | But it was still possible that a ceasefire could formally take effect, with rare international backing for a palliative gesture rather than an attempt to reach a comprehensive settlement of the crisis, which has already left an estimated 30,000 dead. |
| Strikingly, both the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the UN expressed support for a ceasefire. Both countries have good relations with Syria and have protected it from any censure or punishment by the security council. But the last attempt at a ceasefire collapsed within just a few days in April, with both sides accusing the other of breaching it. | Strikingly, both the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the UN expressed support for a ceasefire. Both countries have good relations with Syria and have protected it from any censure or punishment by the security council. But the last attempt at a ceasefire collapsed within just a few days in April, with both sides accusing the other of breaching it. |
| Brahimi, who took over from Kofi Annan in September, told reporters in Cairo on Wednesday: "After the visit I made to Damascus, there is agreement from the Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid." Observers said he may have been deliberately trying to raise expectations and "bounce" the Syrians into agreement. But shortly afterwards, Syria's foreign ministry said the proposal was still being studied by the army command, with a final decision to be announced on Thursday. | Brahimi, who took over from Kofi Annan in September, told reporters in Cairo on Wednesday: "After the visit I made to Damascus, there is agreement from the Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid." Observers said he may have been deliberately trying to raise expectations and "bounce" the Syrians into agreement. But shortly afterwards, Syria's foreign ministry said the proposal was still being studied by the army command, with a final decision to be announced on Thursday. |
| The ceasefire talk came on another day of violence, with government warplanes carrying out bombing raids on the northern town of Maarat al-Numan and nearby villages while rebels surrounded an army base to its east. Five people from one family, including a child and a woman, were killed in the air strikes, according to an opposition monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. | The ceasefire talk came on another day of violence, with government warplanes carrying out bombing raids on the northern town of Maarat al-Numan and nearby villages while rebels surrounded an army base to its east. Five people from one family, including a child and a woman, were killed in the air strikes, according to an opposition monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. |
| In the Damascus suburb of Tadamon, a terrorist car bomb killed four people and injured 11, state media reported. Official media also highlighted a Russian military claim that armed groups in Syria have been supplied with shoulder-launched air defence systems including US-made Stinger missiles. | In the Damascus suburb of Tadamon, a terrorist car bomb killed four people and injured 11, state media reported. Official media also highlighted a Russian military claim that armed groups in Syria have been supplied with shoulder-launched air defence systems including US-made Stinger missiles. |
| Maarat al-Numan has fallen to the rebels, cutting Syria's main north-south highway, a strategic route for Assad to move troops from Damascus to Aleppo, the country's largest city where the insurgents have a foothold. Fighting raged around a nearby military base whose capture would be a significant step towards creating a "safe zone" that could allow them to focus forces on Assad's strongholds in southern Syria. | Maarat al-Numan has fallen to the rebels, cutting Syria's main north-south highway, a strategic route for Assad to move troops from Damascus to Aleppo, the country's largest city where the insurgents have a foothold. Fighting raged around a nearby military base whose capture would be a significant step towards creating a "safe zone" that could allow them to focus forces on Assad's strongholds in southern Syria. |
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