End sieges to resume talks
World powers should force Russia to halt air strikes on civilian targets in Syria and humanitarian measures should be implemented before the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will join peace talks, the opposition negotiators said yesterday.
On the ground, a Russian-backed regime onslaught in northern Syria was reported yesterday to have killed more than 500 people this month, as Turkey faced mounting pressure to open its border to people fleeing the violence.
Riad Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister who heads an opposition council backed by Saudi Arabia, said talks could only take place if sieges were lifted, humanitarian assistance arrived and Russia halted air strikes.
He said Aleppo, where rebels are encircled by Syrian government forces, would never be occupied by Assad's forces.
Last week, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura suspended Syria peace talks amid opposition protests about the bombing.
The next round of talks in Geneva is planned on February 25.
Tens of thousands of Syrians were still stranded yesterday at the frontier north of the second city of Aleppo, which remained closed despite an appeal by the United Nations to let civilians pass.
More than 260,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced since the conflict began in 2011 with anti-regime protests.
Turkey, already hosting 2.7 million Syrian refugees, has so far refused to let a new wave into the country, instead providing humanitarian assistance over the border in Syria. Only wounded people are being allowed to pass the border.
Meanwhile, outgoing French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius yesterday criticised the US role in Syria, saying he did not see "a very strong commitment" from Washington.
"There are ambiguities... You don't get the feeling that there is a very strong commitment," Fabius told reporters shortly before announcing that he was stepping down after nearly four years as foreign minister. "There are words, but actions are something else," said Fabius.
Turkey meanwhile has summoned the US ambassador after a US State Department spokesman said Washington did not regard Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a terrorist organisation, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
Rebels face a potential tipping point in the war following a string of victories by regime forces backed by Russian warplanes and fighters from Iran -- another key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The UN has called for Russia to end its air strikes ahead of fresh peace efforts including a 17-nation meeting tomorrow in Munich aimed at getting the process back on track.
Comments