Syria, Russia encircle rebels in Aleppo, offer safe passage

BEIRUT — After months of fighting to encircle their opponents in Aleppo, Syrian authorities backed by Russia on Thursday offered safe corridors out for residents and rebels in the northern city’s besieged quarters, underlining the government’s determination to seal off the metropolis and force an eventual surrender by the opposition.

Many residents dismissed the offer, saying it presents them with an impossible choice between a slow death if they stay behind and possible detention if they attempt to leave.

The encirclement of rebel-held eastern Aleppo sets the stage for a drawn-out siege with potentially huge implications for the future of the armed opposition to President Bashar Assad.

“If Assad shows that he is winning Aleppo, and he’s now also advancing on the rebels in Damascus, it could trigger a more dramatic shift by finally convincing opposition groups that they have Resident of the Maadi neighborhood of Aleppo lost the war,” said Aron Lund, nonresident associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The announcement of the corridors was made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and was followed by a general amnesty offer by Syria’s President Bashar Assad for rebels who give up their weapons and surrender to authorities.

Rebels and residents of Aleppo said they were deeply skeptical of the offer, and there was no sign of people massing to leave the besieged parts of the city.

“I will not leave. I will be the last man in the city,” said Mohammed Zein Khandakani, a 28-year-old resident of the Maadi neighborhood of Aleppo.

But Khandakani, formerly a lawyer who was detained for a month in the early days of the protests against the Syrian government, said he was worried about his family.

A father of two, he said that despite the risk of maltreatment and even arrest, he is urging his mother, wife and sister to use the safe passages to leave the city.

Ibrahim Haj, director of the media office in Aleppo, said families would probably send their women and children through the corridors if they were deemed secure enough, but not men.

“Most of the men — everyone here — is wanted by the regime,” said Haj. “So, what amnesty?”

The U.N. says Aleppo is now possibly the largest besieged area in Syria, with an estimated 300,000 residents inside. Humanitarian groups have warned of a major catastrophe if the siege continues, while others slammed the offer by Syria and Russia.

Khandakani said life has gotten harder under the 10-day-old siege, with bread and water shortages and electricity going out Wednesday.

MANU BRABO / ASSOCIATED PRESS 2012 Smoke rises over the Saif Al Dawla district in Aleppo, Syria, in October 2012. Syria and Russia are opening humanitarian corridors in the besieged city for opposition fighters and residents. About 300,000 people are in the city.