Few expect food, medicine to reach besieged Syrians
Chief opposition negotiator quits, calls talks ‘absurd.’
An international BEIRUT — plan to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of people living in besieged areas of Syria appeared to be in peril Monday with the dead- line looming closer.
Doubts about the initia- tive, which is backed by the United Nations and involves airdrops of food and other humanitarian relief, have been growing.
Syria’s government has refused to allow road con- voys, and the logistics of delivering food and med- icine by parachute — set to begin Wednesday if the government does not relent — are extremely complex and unreliable, U.N. officials acknowledge.
The issue underscores the faltering efforts led by Washington and Moscow to halt a conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions.
“We all know nothing will happen. This is just another meaningless red line,” said Mohammed Shihadeh, a resident of Darayya, a suburb of Damascus that has been under siege by pro-government fighters since 2012.
Meanwhile, the chi ef opposition negotiator at now-stalled peace talks in Geneva announced his resignation this weekend.
In a statement released late Sunday, Mohammed Alloush described the talks as “absurd” and expressed doubts about whether they would restart. He has criticized the government for refusing to release prisoners and permit aid to reach besieged Syrians.
The announcement is another blow to the peace initiative, which is backed by the United States and Russia even though the two powers remain divided over the conflict. Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad and Washington funds and arms his opposition, but they brokered a partial cease-fire that came into effect in February.
Last month, the opposition delegation to the talks, known as the High Negotiations Committee, suspended its participation because of alleged government violations of the truce.