The six-day ceasefire in Syria is largely holding despite sporadic clashes in some cities and areas, the UN envoy to the crisis says, raising expectations ahead of next week’s planned resumption of peace talks in Geneva.
Staffan de Mistura says the truce, brokered by the US and Russia, has “greatly reduced” violence in Syria, and lays out hopes to resume negotiations called off last month after a spike in fighting.
“In general, the cessation has been holding,” says de Mistura, speaking alongside his humanitarian aid adviser Jan Egeland.
“Unfortunately, we have to admit, like in every cessation of hostilities or ceasefire — and in particular this one — there are still a number of places where fighting has continued, including parts of Hama, Homs, Latakia and Damascus, but they have been contained,” he adds.
To summarize, de Mistura says, the situation is “fragile, success is not guaranteed, but progress has been visible.”
–AP
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 3, 2016
