Putin orders Syria 'humanitarian pause'

International Desk: Russia's President Vladimir Putin has ordered a daily five-hour pause in the Syrian government's assault on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area.

It will start on Tuesday, and include the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" to allow civilians to leave.

The rebel enclave near Damascus, where 393,000 civilians are trapped, has been under intense bombardment by government forces with Russian support.

More than 560 people have been killed in eight days, a monitoring group says.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made the announcement about the "humanitarian pause", saying it would run from 09:00 until 14:00 local time (07:00-12:00 GMT) daily.

In a further statement, the ministry said the Syrian Red Crescent would help set up the corridor and people would receive information about it via leaflets, text messages and videos.

No. A UN Security Council resolution passed on Saturday demanded that "all parties cease hostilities without delay for at least 30 consecutive days" to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations of critically ill people.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the resolution needed to be implemented immediately, warning: "Eastern Ghouta cannot wait. It's high time to stop this hell on Earth."

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that the UN-mandated truce would "start when all sides of the conflict agree on how to introduce it".

He said the jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda would be excluded, as well as the major Islamist rebel factions Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam.

Mr Lavrov called them "partners of al-Nusra Front" - the name of a former al-Qaeda affiliate whose latest incarnation is an alliance of jihadists called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). It has a small presence in the Eastern Ghouta.

If it works, President Putin's announcement of a daily humanitarian truce is the best news the hard-pressed people in the Eastern Ghouta have had since the bombardment intensified more than a week ago. However, it is not the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution.

That resolution was weakened by the compromises necessary to stop it being vetoed by the Russians, who are Syrian President Assad's most essential allies.

No start date was agreed for the ceasefire demanded by the resolution. Instead, it used the wording "without delay". That leaves a lot of scope for Russia to impose conditions to buy more time for attacks on armed opposition groups.

Operations against the jihadists of IS and al-Qaeda are excluded from the resolution. But Moscow also says it will continue to hit Jaysh al-Islam. It is by far the most powerful opposition group in the Eastern Ghouta, is backed by Saudi Arabia, and has been to the Geneva peace talks. Jaysh al-Islam has accepted the ceasefire, while reserving the right of self-defence.

Russia and the Syrian government regard all the opposition groups as terrorists.

Agencies



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