Syria cease-fire takes effect

BEIRUT: Most major armed opposition groups in Syria have indicated they are ready to participate in the plan to cease hostilities on Saturday, as long as the Syrian government upholds its obligations under the deal, a senior Obama administration official said on Friday. US President Barack Obama warned Damascus and key ally Moscow that the world was watching. Both Bashar Assad’s regime and the main opposition body agreed to the deal — which allows fighting to continue against the Daesh group and other rebels. The agreement brokered by Russia and the United States marks the biggest diplomatic push yet to help end Syria’s violence, but has been plagued by doubts after the failure of previous peace efforts. Members of the 17-nation group backing the process were to meet in Geneva on Friday to work out further details of the so-called “cessation of hostilities,” which is then expected to be endorsed by the UN Security Council, diplomats said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said Russia and the regime had launched a wave of attacks on fighters’ areas ahead of the deadline. “It’s more intense than usual,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. Russia launched air strikes in Syria last September saying it was targeting “terrorists” but critics have accused Moscow of hitting fighter forces in support of Assad, a longtime ally. The Observatory said there had been Russian strikes overnight on fighter bastions including the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus, the north of Homs province and the west of Aleppo province. There were at least 26 airstrikes on Eastern Ghouta including 10 on its main city of Douma which was facing heavy regime shelling, he said. One Douma resident told AFP that “the bombing is very heavy” while another described “very big explosions” in the city. The complexity of Syria’s battlefields has raised serious doubts about the feasibility of a cease-fire. Diplomats worked to define areas that fell under the partial truce. The UN’s Syria envoy has said he hopes the agreement will lead to a resumption of peace talks which collapsed earlier this month in Geneva. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been a major advocate of the cease-fire but others in Washington have been less optimistic about the chances of ending a conflict that has left more than 270,000 dead and forced millions from their homes. Arab News