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Aleppo rebel zone facing 'death or surrender' - rebel official

World News | Sun Dec 11, 2016 | 11:00am GMT
Aleppo rebel zone facing 'death or surrender' - rebel official

Smoke and flames rise after air strikes on rebel-controlled besieged area of Aleppo, as seen from a government-held side, in Syria December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Syrian rebels control only a small area of Aleppo that is full of civilians and under very fierce bombardment after pro-government forces took the al-Maadi district, a Turkey-based official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group said on Sunday.

Rebel groups in Aleppo had received no word about U.S.-Russia talks to resolve the crisis in Aleppo, the official said, warning that it would end "in a tragic way" without outside intervention and that they faced "death or surrender".

(Reporting by Tom Perry; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Russia says no agreement with U.S. on safe exit for Aleppo rebels: RIA
 

Smoke and flames rise after air strikes on rebel-controlled besieged area of Aleppo, as seen from a government-held side, in Syria December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sunday that Moscow had not reached an agreement with the United States for rebel fighters in Syria's Aleppo to have safe passage out of the city, RIA news agency reported.

Rebel officials told Reuters earlier on Sunday that a proposal had been tabled by the two countries for fighters to leave the city with their families and other civilians.

"What western agencies are reporting does not necessarily correspond with reality," Ryabkov said, adding that Russia was working to create the necessary conditions for the safe extraction of people from Aleppo.

"The issue of withdrawing militants is the subject of separate agreements. This agreement has not yet been reached, largely because the United States insists on unacceptable terms," RIA quoted him as saying.

Ryabkov said there was no discussion about a joint agreement with the United States on Syria which would then be considered by the opposition. The rebel groups in Aleppo said they had yet to respond to the proposal.

Talks between Russian and U.S. experts will continue in Geneva, he said, adding: "There is some progress, but no agreement."

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs; editing by David Clarke)
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World News | Sun Dec 11, 2016 | 2:11pm EST

Exclusive: U.S. and Russia propose safe exit for Aleppo rebels - opposition officials

People walk near rubble of damaged buildings, in the rebel-held besieged area of Aleppo, Syria November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail 

The United States and Russia on Sunday tabled a proposal to rebels in Aleppo that would offer safe passage from the city for fighters, their families and other civilians, three opposition officials with Aleppo rebel groups told Reuters.

However, Russia denied that any deal had been reached, saying that reports of the proposal do not "necessarily correspond with reality".

The rebel groups in Aleppo have yet to respond to the proposal, the opposition officials said. The proposal promised rebel fighters a "secure" and "honorable" withdrawal from the city, they said.

If rebels accept the proposal, it would restore Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's full control over rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo, his biggest victory yet in the civil war that has shattered his country.

The Russian-backed Syrian military and its allies have captured swathes of rebel-held eastern Aleppo in a ferocious military campaign, squeezing rebel fighters and tens of thousands of civilians into an ever shrinking enclave.

Russia and the U.S. have been meeting in Geneva to seek a solution to the fighting and the humanitarian crisis it has caused.

Moscow's RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that Russia was working to create the necessary conditions for the safe extraction of people from Aleppo and that the Geneva talks would continue.

"The issue of withdrawing militants is the subject of separate agreements. This agreement has not yet been reached, largely because the United States insists on unacceptable terms," RIA quoted him as saying.

Under the proposal, the Syrian government and its allies would guarantee safe passage for fighters, their family members, and other civilians from the city.

The rebel groups in the city have previously said they would not leave eastern Aleppo, while demanding safe passage for civilians who wish to leave to areas to the north of Aleppo near the border with Turkey.

A draft of the proposal sent to Reuters from two of the rebel officials said the Syrian government and its allies would give a public guarantee that fighters and civilians leaving the city would not be detained or harmed, and guarantee the safety of civilians who wish to remain in the city.
It would require fighters from the jihadist group formerly known as Nusra Front to head to the northwestern province of Idlib. But it would allow fighters from other groups to go to other destinations including areas near the Turkish border to the northeast of Aleppo, which are held by groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.

Implementation would be carried out over a 48-hour period, and U.N. oversight would be sought. Fighters would be allowed to take their light weapons with them, but must leave heavy weapons behind, the proposal said.

The office of the U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said it had no comment for now on the report.

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Suleiman al-Khalidi; editing by David Clarke and Ros Russell)

Syria and Russia pressed to end Aleppo onslaught

Syria and Russia pressed to end Aleppo onslaught

Meeting in Paris, Western and Arab diplomats call for renewed talks between Assad government and opposition leaders.

Diplomats meeting in Paris for talks on the situation in Syria have called for an immediate end to the violence in Aleppo and renewed talks with opposition leaders, even as air strikes continue to hit civilian areas in the city's east.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, and European foreign ministers as well as their counterparts from Qatar and Saudi Arabia also demanded on Saturday that Syrian government and Russian forces stop their onslaught.

For his part, Kerry said the Syrian government's "indiscriminate bombing" of eastern Aleppo amounts to "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity".

Kerry said "the indiscriminate bombing by the regime violates rules of law, or in many cases, crimes against humanity, and war crimes".

 He urged Russia to show "a little grace" when US and Russian officials meet in Geneva, Switzerland, later on Saturday and pressed for a deal enabling civilians and fighters to leave besieged east Aleppo.

"Russia and Assad have a moment where they are in a dominant position to show a little grace," Kerry said.

"Fighters ... don't trust that if they agreed to leave to try to save Aleppo that it will save Aleppo and they will be unharmed and free to move where they are not immediately attacked."

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, accused the Syrian government of "genocide" and urged the international community to remain focused on finding a political solution to the conflict.

"Military confrontation does not offer a solution; there can only be a political solution," he said.
'With preconditions'

Speaking after the meeting, Jean-Marc Ayrault, France's foreign minister, said the Syrian opposition was willing to resume negotiations with Bashar al-Assad's government "without preconditions".

However, both Syria and Russia have rejected talk of a ceasefire without a withdrawal by fighters from the city, a demand that Syrian opposition groups have refused.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syria border, said the meeting offered little reprieve for civilians still trapped in east Aleppo.

"Air strikes from Russian and Syrian jets have been relentless as Syrian forces backed by Iranian militias engage in fierce street battles with rebels," he said.

"Residents have told Al Jazeera that the situation is a 'living nightmare' and while it is very hard to get a civilian death count, since Friday afternoon at least 56 civilians have been killed and several more injured."

Prospects look increasingly grim for the Western-backed opposition forces after five years of civil war, as forces loyal to Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, have captured about 85 percent of Aleppo's east, with fighters and civilians confined to just a few neighbourhoods.

East Aleppo struggles to bury the dead

The UN estimates about 100,000 people are now squeezed into opposition-held parts of Aleppo with virtually no access to food, water or medical care.

After days of intense bombing, Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, acknowledged this week that diplomacy has "not delivered for the people of Aleppo".

"We have engaged in that exercise in good faith for many many months. But all that has happened in that period is that no food has arrived. No medical evacuations have occurred from eastern Aleppo. And the regime backed by Russia has pulverised schools, hospitals, civilian neighbourhoods," she told the Associated Press news agency.

Aleppo's loss would be the biggest blow for the opposition fighters in the conflict, which has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced half the country's population.

Blocked from leaving

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled east Aleppo in recent weeks, though the UN said on Friday it had received reports that the fighters had blocked some residents from leaving.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says about 2,000 civilians fled east Aleppo on Saturday.

The state news agency SANA says they have been taken to a temporary shelter in Jibrin, about 10km east of Aleppo.

The UN said on Friday it had received reports of fighters blocking some from leaving and of reprisals against residents who asked armed groups to leave.

It has also expressed concern about reports that hundreds of men had gone missing after fleeing to government-held territory.

The Syrian civil war started as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad in March 2011, but quickly developed into a full-scale war.

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