Syria Serious about Success of Ceasefire: Analyst

Since the beginning of civil war in Syria in 2011, the government has tried to resolve the crisis in a political way, Sabet al-Mohammad, a military analyst and retired Syrian army general, told the Tasnim News Agency.

Syria is serious in helping the political resolution process succeed and in protecting Syrian people’s lives and preventing bloodshed, but the international community does not seem to be serious about ceasing the war, he stressed.

Developments in Syria, and the continued support by Turkey and Persian Gulf Arab Sheikhdoms, Saudi Arabia in particular, in the form of financial and arms aid to terrorists, indicate the fact that the world lacks the resolve, Mohammad said.

If the global community has any respect for itself, it should hand over the supporters of terrorism to the International Criminal Court, he added.

The remarks came after fighting subsided across much of Syria as the first major ceasefire of the devastating five-year war appeared to broadly hold despite sporadic breaches in parts of the battle-scarred country.

The truce, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is seen as a crucial step towards ending a conflict that has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population.

A special international task force co-chaired by the United States and Russia hailed the ceasefire.

“The United Nations, the United States and Russia have made a positive assessment of the first hours of the cessation of hostilities,” a western diplomat said after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Geneva.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the ceasefire in a phone call and discussed ways of supporting it through cooperation between their militaries, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

The ceasefire faces formidable challenges including the exclusion of Daesh (ISIL) and Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front, which control large parts of the country.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said peace talks would resume on March 7 if the ceasefire prevails and more aid is delivered -- a key sticking point in negotiations.

He said it was important that any incidents are “quickly brought under control” and a military response should be the “last resort”.

Moscow has vowed to keep striking Daesh, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, but said it would ground its warplanes in the Syria campaign on the first day of the truce to avoid potential mistakes.

Among the limited ceasefire breaches, Syrian media said terrorist groups fired a number of shells on Damascus but caused no casualties.