US, Russia agree on Syria cease-fire

Tillerson: Truce in SW lets rebels focus on Islamic State

USA TODAY HAMBURG, GERMANY A ceasefire agreement reached Friday between the United States and Russia is intended to quell fighting in southwest Syria and allow anti-government rebels there to focus on the Islamic State, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Tillerson announced the cease-fire as President Donald Trump held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg at the Group of 20 summit.

Tillerson said the agreement, if it holds, may be a blueprint for other parts of the country. “This area in the south is our first show of success. We hope we can replicate that elsewhere,” he said.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the U.S. in trying to resolve Syria’s civil war, which pits forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian allies against rebel forces seeking to impose a brutal Islamist rule.

It’s still unclear how the agreement will be enforced.

“We have a very clear picture of who will provide the security forces, but we have a few more details to work out,” he said. Those discussions should be finalized within a week. “The talks are very active and ongoing.”

The U.S. position remains that Assad must go. “We see no long-term role for the Assad family or the Assad regime,” Tillerson said.

Tillerson has assailed Assad for attacking his own people with chemical weapons. On April 6, Trump authorized cruise missile strikes at a Syrian air base where a chemical attack was alleged to have been launched days earlier.

Assad and Russia denied the allegations, calling them fabricated. Russia and Iran have backed Assad since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. The fighting has caused an estimated 500,000 deaths.

Jordan’s minister of state for media affairs, Mohammed Momani, announced that the three-way agreement with the United States and Russia is set to go into effect Sunday, according to the Jordan state news agency, Petra.

The agreement aims to permanently de-escalate the tension in southern Syria, ending hostilities, restoring stability and allowing free access of humanitarian aid, Petra reported.

The Islamic State is in the area covered by the cease-fire and will not be party to the agreement. The group is hemmed in against the Israelicontrolled Golan Heights and under attack by U.S.-supported rebel forces.