‘Cessation of hostilities’ is set to begin in Syria
Cease-fire does not apply to Islamic State or other terrorists
The United States and Russia brokered a temporary cease-fire between forces loyal to the Syrian government and Western-backed rebels trying to overthrow it that is scheduled to begin at midnight Friday, Damascus time. The 5year-old war in Syria has killed about 470,000 people and displaced 11 million, creating a refugee crisis in Europe.
THE TERMS
The agreement, called a “cessation of hostilities,” should stop the fighting between those parties and allow aid groups to deliver humanitarian supplies and services to areas that have been besieged by government forces backed with Russian airstrikes. The agreement does not apply to the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, or the al- Qaedalinked Nusra Front terrorist groups. It does not impact airstrikes against those two militant groups conducted by Syria, Russia and the U.S.-led coalition.
Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that the agreement has already allowed five or six Syrian communities to receive 114 trucks carrying assistance and that 80,000 people have supplies for a month.
The truce is needed before U.N.-led peace talks can resume in Geneva. Indirect talks quickly collapsed this month because of increased violence and a Russianbacked government offensive in Aleppo, near the Turkish border.
WILL DEAL HOLD?
Even if Syria’s warring factions stop fighting, it’s unclear whether they will agree to implement the political process supposed to follow the cease-fire. The process calls for elections in six months, but the role of Syrian President Bashar Assad is not spelled out.
Kerry said the cease-fire is an opportunity to test the seriousness of Assad and his Russian allies to implement elections and an inclusive government. If that doesn’t happen, the United States will consider other options, Kerry said. He said the opposition will not stop fighting if Assad does not leave office.
WHAT IF CEASE-FIRE FOLDS?
If the cease-fire doesn’t hold, the political process doesn’t proceed, and the fighting could get worse. More than a dozen countries have sent armies and militias to fight in Syria.
“If they’re not serious, then we’re going to have come here and talk about whatever a Plan B is going to be,” Kerry said Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “If this doesn’t end and the opposition continues to fight, this could get a lot uglier.”
Recent gains made by Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State have raised tensions with Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbor, which has fought for decades against a Kurdish separatist insurgency.
Though the United States supports those Kurds in their fight against the Islamic State, Turkey, a NATO ally, considers many of the Syrian Kurdish militia to be terrorist organizations tied to that insurgency, Kerry said.
“Going forward we have to be very careful a different problem is not created by our short-term interest in working with the Kurds against ISIS,” he said.