De Mistura Questions the Credibility of the Next Round of Talks

Humanitarian access to besieged areas and a restoration of the ceasefire in Syria must be achieved in order to give credibility to the next round of peace talks, U.N. special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said on May 19.

The envoy said the credibility of the talks would be in question if the parties involved were not able to prioritize aid deliveries and the implementation of a truce.

“Obviously we are in a hurry to start reintroducing the next round of the intra-Syrian talks but the message was clear: if we don’t have the atmosphere conducive for increasing the cessation of hostilities tenure […] and a substantial improvement on the humanitarian access, then the credibility of the next round of talks will be in question,” he said.

The United Nations News Centre reported his statements from a briefing to reporters in Geneva on a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) that took place in Vienna on May 17. That session brought together the United States, Russia, the U.N., the Arab League, the European Union and 16 other countries that have been working since late last year to bring an end to the crisis in Syria.

De Mistura said that if there were no substantial progress in humanitarian access to besieged areas across the country by June 1, the U.N. would begin unilaterally air-dropping supplies – the action would be a considered a last-resort measure, given the high cost of such operations.

There is no “Plan B,” he said, stressing that the only way to reach a political solution to the crisis would be through the intra-Syrian talks.

De Mistura’s senior adviser, Jan Egeland, said food and other humanitarian supplies for 10,000 people had reached the besieged area of East Harasta on Thursday for the first time in four years.

“We have now reached 13 out of the 18 besieged areas as compared to reaching two of the besieged areas of last year,” he said. “But that is the end of the good news really, because May was, and is, one of the most difficult months we’ve had this year.”

ISIS Militant Detonates Bomb, Dies During Turkish Police Raid

An Islamic State militant was killed on Thursday after he detonated an explosive device strapped to his body. He died during a Turkish police raid on a radical cell in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, 30 miles from the Syrian border.

Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya told state-run Anadolu Agency that counter-terrorism police detained another militant in the house.

In the days leading up to May 19, a national holiday in Turkey, police issued nationwide warnings about possible terrorist attacks linked to the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), Reuters reports. ISIS and Kurdish militants have both targeted Turkish cities in recent months.

Turkish military sources said U.S.-led coalition forces had killed dozens of ISIS fighters in shelling and airstrikes in northern Syria in recent weeks, as a response to rocket attacks on Turkish areas from across the border.

Three Out of Four Syrians Believe in a Political Solution to the War: Poll

A new poll shows 75 percent of Syrians believe a political solution can end the five-year conflict in their country, while 25 percent put their faith in the success of military operations.

An independent poll conducted by ORB International across Syria’s 14 provinces showed that 59 percent of Sunni Muslims and 68 percent of Alawites/Shia Muslims felt they could put aside their differences and live in peace.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of Syrians feel the influence of the so-called Islamic State has decreased in the country over the past six months, the Guardian in London reports, quoting the poll.

According to ORB, the desire to see a negotiated end to the conflict was reflected in the focus groups it conducted in Aleppo, Idlib and Hassakeh, as well as with refugees from the ISIS-held areas of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.

The poll also found that 51 percent of those it interviewed felt the influence of Hezbollah, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s allies, had lessened. Some 47 percent believe that the influence of the al-Qaida-backed al-Nusra Front has also decreased.

Recommended Reads:

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• Al-Arabiya: Did Hezbollah’s Sheriff Kill His Deputy?
• Voice of America: U.S. And Turkey Clash Over Islamic State Lifeline to Syria
• Reuters: Jihadists Mobilize in Syria as Peacemaking Unravels
• BBC News: Syria Troops ‘Capture Rebel Towns Near Damascus’