Assad way won't end civil war, has anyone got plan B?

[Anthea]

Syria conflict 'out of control' warns Kerry amid push to save truce

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the Syrian conflict is "in many ways out of control", as he made a fresh push to salvage a fragile truce.

After talks with UN and Arab diplomats in Geneva, he said progress had been made on a plan to reduce violence in the second city of Aleppo.

However, he said more work was needed and there was no guarantee of success.

A cessation of hostilities has reduced fighting in Syria's five-year civil war but has unravelled in recent days.

About 250 people have reportedly been killed in Aleppo in the past nine days.

On Monday, fresh government air strikes and artillery attacks on rebel-held districts and suburbs of Aleppo left at least three dead, according to activists.

Mr Kerry, speaking alongside UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura after a morning of talks in Geneva, said the conflict was "in many ways out of control and deeply disturbing".

He said the nine-week-old cessation of hostilities had had "a profoundly positive effect" and saved many lives, but in recent weeks it had been "put to the test".

Mr Kerry said the goal was to reinforce a broad truce that could withstand further tests. He also promised more ceasefire monitors to track violations "24 hours a day, seven days a week".

"We're trying to press this as fast as possible but I don't want to make any promises that can't be kept," he said.

The US secretary of state said a recent air strike on a hospital in Aleppo, which he blamed on the Syrian government, was "unconscionable" but he added that both sides, the opposition and the regime, had contributed to "this chaos".

Before leaving Geneva, Mr Kerry spoke by telephone to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Both men reiterated calls for all sides to observe the cessation of hostilities, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Mr de Mistura is due to travel to Russia on Tuesday.

Mr Kerry's trip to Geneva was hastily arranged after Mr de Mistura appealed to the US and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria's five-year conflict, to rescue the cessation of hostilities they brokered in February.

At the start of a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday, Mr Kerry said he would press rebel groups in Aleppo to separate themselves from the powerful jihadist group, al-Nusra Front.

"We're getting closer to a place of understanding. But we have some work to do."

The Syrian government and Russia have said the Aleppo air strikes are targeting only al-Nusra, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda and is excluded from the cessation of hostilities along with the rival Islamic State group.

However, the opposition and the US have dismissed the claim, and accused the government of targeting civilians and rebels abiding by the cessation of hostilities.

"What is happening in Aleppo is an outrage. It's a violation of all humanitarian laws. It's a crime," Mr Jubeir said, adding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be held accountable and would be removed from power either through a political process or by force.

The fighting in Aleppo has also seen dozens of civilians killed in rebel artillery attacks on government-held areas.

After at least 50 people were killed in a reported government air strike on a hospital last Wednesday night, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Aleppo was being "pushed further to the brink of humanitarian disaster".
Graph showing Syrian death toll

Large parts of the city have been destroyed and its infrastructure has been severely damaged, leaving civilians without water and electricity for months.

The talks in Geneva come a day after the Syrian military extended a "regime of calm" around the capital, Damascus, for another 24 hours.

The unilateral truce also covers the northern countryside of the coastal province of Latakia,

More than three dozen rebel factions said on Saturday that they would not respect the truce, unless the government agreed to extend it over the whole country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36183569

[Anthea]

Syria conflict: Assad strategy won't end civil war, says Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that seeking military gains will not end the civil war.

Mr Kerry said there would be "repercussions" if the Syrian government flouted a cessation of violence agreed in February.

A resurgence in fighting, particularly in the northern city of Aleppo, has threatened to derail the partial truce.

More than 250 people have been killed in Aleppo in the past 10 days.

As diplomatic efforts intensified on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a unilateral truce declared by the Syrian military could be extended to Aleppo "in the next few hours".

After talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura in Moscow, he said Russia was working with the UN and US to include Aleppo in the "regime of calm" that has covered Damascus and Latakia since Saturday.

On Tuesday, 19 people were killed by rebel rocket fire in government-controlled areas of Aleppo, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

State media said a hospital was hit, killing three people and wounding 17.

Last Wednesday, an air strike on a hospital in a rebel-held area killed 55 people. The US blamed the attack on government forces.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Kerry said he was hopeful the cessation of violence could be restored, and he warned President Assad of consequences if violations continued.

"If Assad does not adhere to this, there will clearly be repercussions, and one of them may be the total destruction of the ceasefire and then go back to war. I don't think Russia wants that," he said.

Mr Kerry added: "If Assad's strategy is to somehow think he's going to just carve out Aleppo and carve out a section of the country, I've got news for him - this war doesn't end.

"It is simply physically impossible for Assad to just carve out an area and pretend that he's somehow going to make it safe, while the underlying issues are unresolved in this war. And as long as Assad is there, the opposition is not going to stop fighting it... one way or the other."

He reiterated there was an August deadline for starting a political transition in Syria.

Earlier this year, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned that Russia might be trying to create a mini-state for President Assad in the north-west of the country, which includes Aleppo. Russia strongly denied the idea.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Lavrov told reporters that he expected a decision on including Aleppo in the separate regime of calm "in the very near future - maybe in the next few hours".

The unilateral truce had been effect in Latakia and the eastern Ghouta region around Damascus since the weekend thanks to the efforts of the Russian and US militaries, he said.

The aim of Russian, US and UN negotiators was to extend the regime of calm and "ideally make it indefinite", Mr Lavrov added.

But he warned that so-called moderate rebel groups in Aleppo had to leave areas where militants from al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate that is excluded from the cessation of hostilities, were being targeted.

The partial halt in fighting has raised hopes that tentative peace talks in Geneva might bring forward a solution to Syria's bloody five-year civil war.

But the truce all but collapsed after renewed violence, particularly in Aleppo.

Also on Tuesday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding the protection of hospitals, clinics and health workers in war zones.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there was no justification for attacks on medical facilities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned last week that Aleppo was being "pushed further to the brink of humanitarian disaster".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36199633