U.N. Envoy Urges Syria Ceasefires
U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura briefed the Syrian leadership in Damascus Monday on the outcome of last week’s international talks in Vienna, reportedly pushing President Bashar al-Assad to accept a ceasefire.
“What we need is also some facts on the ground, some ceasefires, some reductions of violence,” Misruta said in Damascus before leaving the country, the AFP reports.
“That would make a big difference, to give a feeling to the Syrian people that the Vienna atmosphere is producing effects to them.”
Mistura met Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem on Sunday to brief him on the outcome of talks held last Friday between 17 nations, in addition to representatives from the U.N. and the E.U., aimed at putting an end to the bloodshed in Syria. Neither the Syrian government nor the Syrian opposition was invited to the table.
Another round of international talks is expected to take place two weeks from now.
HRW: Caged Hostages Used as Human Shields
Syrian armed groups in Eastern Ghouta have placed detained civilians and soldiers in metal cages scattered throughout the city, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch.
Armed groups in the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, which was rocked by deadly air strikes over the weekend, have said they are using the publicly caged detainees to deter future indiscriminate attacks on the area.
A video published on November 1 by the Shaam News Network, a rebel news outlet, shows a series of trucks with cages constructed on the back, carrying four to eight men and women each. It includes interviews with a detained colonel and two Alawite women – all three of whom are in cages.
A text published alongside the video reads: “Rebels in Ghouta have distributed 100 cages, with each cage containing approximately seven people and the plan is afoot to produce 1,000 cages to distribute in Eastern Ghouta … in different parts of Douma city particularly in public places and markets that have been attacked in the past by the regime and Russian air force.”
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has placed responsibility for the stunt on Jaish al-Islam, the strongest armed group in Eastern Ghouta. Jaish al-Islam, for its part, has not claimed ownership.
During a period of heavy fighting back in December 2013 in nearby ‘Adra al-‘Omalia, Jaish al-Islam and the Nusra Front abducted hundreds of civilians, mostly Alawites and many of whom are women and children, currently being held in unknown locations throughout Eastern Ghouta. HRW fears that these civilians are among those seen in the cages.
Iran Threatens to Quit Talks Over Saudi Role
Iranian officials hinted Monday they might withdraw from the latest round of Syria talks because of what they deem to be the unhelpful role being played by their arch-rival Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reports.
“In the first round of talks, some countries, especially Saudi Arabia, played a negative and unconstructive role,” said Iran’s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. “Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful.”
The warning, which was issued by an Iranian state-run news outlet, came just three days after Iranian and Saudi diplomats met in the same room for the first time since the crisis in Syria began. They joined nearly 20 other global powers in Vienna in a meeting aimed at bringing an end to the fighting in Syria.
The latest statements by Abdollahian reflect the deep and growing rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two have accused each other of fueling instability in Syria, in addition to Bahrain and Yemen, where their competing spheres of influence are also at odds.
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Top image: Syria’s foreign minister Walid al-Moallem, right, meets with U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. Al-Moallem said “important” points were made during international talks aimed at reviving the peace process but that negotiators failed to convince his government’s foes to curb their support for “terrorism.” (SANA via AP)