Syrian official warns Turkey, Saudi Arabia

A Syrian official says the ceasefire in his country can succeed if Turkey and Saudi Arabia stop interfering and halt their support for militants.

Ahmad Mounir, Syria’s deputy minister of national reconciliation, tells a group of international reporters on a trip organized by Russian foreign and defense ministries that a peaceful settlement for his country would also curb the flow to refugees to Europe.

If there is no peace, Mounir says the “terror threat to Europe will increase.”

He says the government is determined to continue “fighting terrorism,” a reference to operations against the Islamic State group, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and other militant factions excluded from the US-Russia-brokered “cessation of hostilities,” which started on Saturday.

He also reiterated President Bashar Assad’s offer of amnesty to rebels who lay down their arms.

— AP