Syria opposition grouping demands truce deal ‘guarantees’

AFP, Sept. 12, 2016 – Syria’s opposition High Negotiations Committee grouping said it was calling for “guarantees” on the implementation of a truce deal before endorsing it, hours before it was due to begin Monday.
The Russian-US brokered ceasefire is due to start at sundown, but it has yet to win support from Syria’s political or military opposition.
“We want to know what the guarantees are,” said Salem al-Muslet, spokesman for the HNC, which groups political and military opposition factions.
“What is the definition that has been chosen for ‘terrorism’, and what will the response be in case of violations?
“Will Russia abide by it, will the regime abide by it and halt its bombing and its crimes?
“We are asking for guarantees especially from the United States, which is a party to the agreement,” Muslet told AFP.
The deal calls for an initial 48-hour, renewable, ceasefire “anywhere where the opposition is present.”
Simultaneously, aid access to the country’s many besieged and “hard-to-reach” areas is set to begin, with government and rebel forces ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access in particular to Aleppo city.
Questions remain, however, about how the ceasefire will apply in several parts of the country where the Fateh al-Sham Front is present.
The deal says that Washington and Moscow will begin joint targeting of jihadists including Fateh al-Sham in a week, if the ceasefire holds.
But the group is a powerful partner for many opposition factions on the ground, including the key Ahrar al-Sham group, which rules Idlib province in an alliance with Fateh al-Sham and other groups.
Ahrar al-Sham rejected the truce deal late on Sunday saying it would only serve to boost the regime.