Syrian rebels ‘regrouping’ under truce: Putin

Slavyansk / AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Syrian rebels on Saturday of using a fragile ceasefire to regroup, as diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Washington simmered over a lack of humanitarian aid access.
Fresh shelling and clashes were reported overnight in some areas of the war-torn country, but the US-Russia brokered truce which took effect on Monday appeared to be largely holding.
In New York, the UN Security Council cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the ceasefire, billed as the “last chance” to end the five-year war that has killed 300,000 people.
The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.
Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, said he remained “positive” about the truce but lashed out at rebels.
“We see attempts to regroup among these terrorists, to switch one label for another, one name for another and keep their military capacity,” he said in televised remarks while on a trip to Kyrgyzstan.
Putin said Washington apparently “has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad,” calling it a “very dangerous path.”
Moscow said on Friday that it was ready to prolong the truce by 72 hours, but there has been no formal announcement of an extension.
The implementation of the truce has been complicated by the presence of extremists — who are not covered by the ceasefire — and mainstream rebels on some of the same frontlines.
A challenge for Washington is to persuade opposition groups it backs to separate themselves from the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, previously called Al-Nusra Front.

‘Unacceptable aid delays’
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and condemned “repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid,” spokesman John Kirby said.
Kerry told Lavrov that Washington “expects Russia to use its influence on the Assad regime to allow UN humanitarian convoys to reach the battleground northern city of Aleppo and other areas in need,” Kirby said.
He added that the United States would not set up a planned joint US-Russian military coordination cell in Syria until regime forces there allow aid into besieged cities.
President Barack Obama also voiced “deep concern” that the Syrian regime continued to block aid.
A key plank of the truce deal was the delivery of aid to areas including Aleppo, where an estimated 250,000 people in rebel-held areas of the city are living under government siege.
Under the deal, the main route into Aleppo, the Castello Road, would be demilitarised and aid convoys would enter from Turkey.
But 40 trucks carrying desperately needed food aid were still stuck on the border with Turkey on Saturday.
“Still no progress, but the UN is ready to move once we get the go ahead,” said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN has said it cannot deliver aid until “all guarantees are in place for safe delivery.”

Intermittent fighting
AFP’s correspondent in Aleppo’s eastern districts said the city was calm on Saturday after a few rocket attacks overnight.
Fighting erupted overnight between rebels and pro-regime forces in the opposition-held suburb of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Air strikes hit several towns in the central province of Homs and also targeted rebel groups, including fighters from the Fateh al-Sham Front, in the coastal province of Latakia, according to the British-based monitor.
Under the US-Russia deal, if the truce lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Moscow and Washington are to work together to target extremists including the IS group.
The Pentagon said on Friday that dozens of US Special Operations Forces had been deployed to Syria’s border with Turkey to fight IS, at Ankara’s request, in support of Turkey’s army and “vetted” Syrian rebels.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that a coalition air strike in Syria had killed a senior IS operative considered the information minister of the group.
Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, also known as “Dr. Wa’il”, was killed in a precision strike on September 7 near Raqa, the jihadists’ de facto
Syrian capital, Cook said.

US not sharing
Syria deal documents with UN: Russia

United Nations / AFP

Russia accused the United States of refusing to share documents with the UN Security Council outlining a joint agreement aimed at halting the fighting in Syria.
An urgent council meeting called to discuss the agreement was abruptly cancelled on Friday amid disagreements between Russia and the United States over the joint deal.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the council would not be able to endorse the agreement with a resolution unless it receives information about the deal.
“Most likely we are not going to have a resolution at the Security Council because the United States does not want to share those documents with the members of the Security Council,” he told reporters.
“We believe we cannot ask them to support a document that they haven’t seen.”
The US and Russian envoys were to present to the council details of the agreement reached on September 9 that calls for a ceasefire, the delivery of aid and joint targeting of Islamist rebels in Syria.
Russia, Syria’s main ally, had been pushing for a resolution to endorse the agreement reached after months of US-Russian negotiations.
The United States has been reluctant to release the details of the agreement, citing security concerns for some US-backed groups fighting in Syria.
“Since we could not agree on an approach to briefing the council that would not compromise the operational security of the arrangement, the meeting was canceled,” a spokesman for the US mission said.
Churkin said he had presented two separate draft resolutions endorsing the deal, but said the American side had tried to introduce changes.
“They in their typical way came up with a completely different thing — which is trying to interpret and re-interpret the agreement,” he said.
“They are not doing the right thing.”

More Syria meetings
next week
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due on Wednesday to attend a special council meeting on Syria, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
Lavrov said a meeting of the International Syria Support Group backing the peace process was likely to be held on Tuesday in New York, on the eve of the council meeting.
“We believe the Security Council can play an important role in the resolution of the crisis in Syria,” the US spokesman said.
“However, right now we are focused on the implementation of the agreement brokered by Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov, particularly the urgent need for humanitarian aid to reach Syrians in need.”
Under the deal, all sides were due to allow deliveries of food and other basic supplies to the battleground city of Aleppo after a ceasefire went into effect on Monday.
But on Friday, aid convoys positioned at the border with Turkey had yet to receive the all-clear to begin their journey to Aleppo.

US special forces deployed
to Syria to back Turkey

AFP

Dozens of US Special Operations commandos have been deployed to northern Syria to help Turkey and “vetted” Syrian rebels fight the IS group, the Pentagon confirmed.
But as footage emerged of the rebels hurling insults and threats at the American special operators, US officials were forced to play down reports that the troops did not receive a warm welcome to the frontline.
Last month, Ankara launched an offensive into northern Syria dubbed “Euphrates Shield,” ostensibly designed to cut a major IS group supply line but also to counter the advance of US-backed a Kurdish militia.
US forces are working alongside the Syrian Kurds of the YPG in the fight against the IS, but Turkey regards the group as terrorists and allies of the PKK separatist group fighting within its own borders.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters that US commandos, at Turkey’s request, had joined the Turkish military and “vetted Syrian opposition forces” fighting the IS group near Jarabulus and Al Rai.
A US defense official admitted there had been a “misunderstanding,” but insisted the troops were still deployed and that the matter had been cleared up.
The special forces contingent includes several dozen troops, Jeff added.