Syrian government refuses UN truce terms for Aleppo

The Syrian government refuses a UN proposal to grant the rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo autonomy in order to restore calm to the war-torn city.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem says the state’s institutions “must be restored” across the city and the militants expelled.

At least 164 civilians have been killed since the government renewed its assault on the besieged enclave six days ago, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UN estimates 275,000 people are trapped inside. By Saturday, the government had damaged or destroyed every hospital in the east, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports doctors and hospitals in Syria.

Rebels outside the city have meanwhile launched two unsuccessful offensives to break the government’s siege and shelled the government-held western districts.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura had proposed that the Syrian government grant eastern Aleppo autonomy in exchange for peace, and called on the estimated 900 al-Qaida-linked militants in the east to depart to other rebel-held territory in Syria.

But al-Moallem refuses the offer in a meeting with de Mistura in Damascus. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, the foreign minister says restoring government rule is a matter of “national sovereignty.” He says Damascus will not allow the people of eastern Aleppo to be “hostages to 6,000 gunmen.”

“We agreed on the need that terrorists should get out of east Aleppo to end the suffering of the civilians in the city,” he says.

— AP