Russia and America’s fragile attempt to stop nearly five years of fighting in Syria is in jeopardy because of attacks by government forces and the woeful response of international leaders, it is claimed.
The cessation of hostilities drawn up by Washington and Moscow only came into force on Saturday but is already showing cracks, according to the Saudi-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC).
Asaad al-Zoubi, of the group, said the ceasefire will fail because Syrian government attacks are violating the agreement.
He said: “We are not facing a violation of the truce… we are facing a complete nullification.
“I believe the international community has totally failed in all its experiments, and must take real, practical measures towards the (Syrian) regime.”
He said there were no signs of any preparations for peace talks, which the United Nations wants to reconvene on March 7.
France said there were reports of attacks on opposition forces in breach of the deal, which came into force on Saturday, as countries backing the Syrian peace process met to try to clarify the situation.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the pause in the fighting was largely holding, despite some incidents that he hoped would be contained.
The truce marks the most concerted unilateral effort to end the bloodshed
The Kremlin said the process was under way, although it had always been clear it would not be easy.
However, US Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts were being made to track down alleged violations but that there was currently no evidence to suggest it would destabilise the fragile peace.a we take a look at how the people there are coping with
Kerry said at a news conference in Washington that he agreed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to intensify work on a mechanism to ensure any strikes in Syria solely target Islamic State or Nusra Front.
The cessation of hostilities agreement, the first of its kind since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, is a less formal arrangement than a ceasefire and is meant to allow peace talks to resume and aid to reach besieged communities.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was largely holding, with fewer casualties compared to before the agreement took effect.
Source: Express, 1 March 2016
