Syria Rebels Call for Aleppo Cease-Fire
Source: wall street journal
BEIRUT—Syrian rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day cease-fire to evacuate the severely wounded and all other civilians who want to leave the regime-besieged eastern neighborhoods of the city—a stark admission by the opposition that it is all but defeated there.
The proposal still requires the approval of the Syrian regime and its main military ally Russia. If a deal is reached, according to the plan, the government and rebels would negotiate the future status of what was once Syria’s largest city and its economic powerhouse, and has been considered a bellwether for the outcome of the country’s civil war.
That would likely set the stage for a full rebel withdrawal from Aleppo following a string of other opposition losses across the country.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will raise the rebel proposal during a meeting Wednesday in Hamburg with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a bid to get Moscow’s support for the initiative, according to a Western diplomat and a Western adviser to the Syrian opposition.
Canada and the U.K. are also weighing whether to promote the rebel proposal at this week’s meeting of the International Syria Support Group, a meeting that will be attended by military supporters of both sides of the conflict.
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/syria-rebels-call-for-aleppo-cease-fire-1481123217
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