Syria ‘ready to explore’ truce even as it bombs rebels

Syria has said it is prepared to explore a truce proposal by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, even as it unleashed multiple air strikes on rebel positions on a key highway.

The exiled opposition said yesterday it would welcome any ceasefire but that the ball was in the government’s court to halt its daily bombardments.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that pre-dawn air raids around Maaret al-Numan were the “most violent” since insurgents captured the strategic town on the Damascus-Aleppo highway last week.

The Syrian foreign ministry said early yesterday that it looked forward to talks with UN-Arab League envoy Brahimi on his proposal for a ceasefire for the four-day Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday beginning at the end of October, which he has been promoting on a regional tour.

But spokesman Jihad Maqdisi stressed that the rebels and their backers would also need to be involved.

“In order to succeed in any initiative, it takes two sides,” Jihad Maqdisi said in answer to a question.

“The Syrian side is interested in exploring this option and we are looking forward to talking to Mr Brahimi to see what is the position of other influential countries that he talked to in his tour,” he said.

“Will they pressure the armed groups that they host and finance and arm in order to abide by such a ceasefire?”

The opposition Syrian National Council said it would expect the rebel Free Syrian Army to reciprocate any halt to the violence but that it expected the government to act first.

“We would welcome any halt to the killings but we think the appeal needs to be addressed first to the Syrian regime, which has not stopped bombarding Syrian towns and villages,” SNC leader Abdel Basset Sayda said.

Rebel fighters “are only acting in self-defence, so it is normal that they would halt hostilities when the war machine does so”, he added.

Lakhdar Brahimi was in Cairo yesterday on the latest leg of a swing that has already taken him to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, staunch backers of the opposition, and to Iran, Syria’s closest ally.

Lakhdar Brahimi’s office said the envoy had appealed for Iranian help to broker the truce.

“He reiterated the call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a ceasefire and a halt to the flow of arms to both sides. A ceasefire, he said, would help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop.”

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