FIGHTING subsided across much of Syria yesterday as the first major ceasefire of the five-year war took hold and an international task force prepared to begin monitoring the landmark truce. Guns fell silent at midnight in suburbs around the capital and the bomb-scarred northern city of Aleppo, AFP Correspondents said, after a day of intense Russian air strikes on rebel bastions.The nationwide cessation of hostilities, brokered by Washington and Moscow, is seen as a crucial but fragile step towards ending a war that has claimed 270,000 lives and displaced more than half the population. It faces formidable challenges including the exclusion of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front which control large parts of the country. Peace talks would resume on March 7 if the truce holds and more aid is delivered — a key sticking point in negotiations. The special task force was due to meet in Geneva yesterday at 1400 GMT to oversee developments.Its co-chairs Moscow and Washington have set up rival offices to monitor the truce along with a UN Operations Centre and would be first to deal with any infractions. Moscow has vowed to keep striking IS, Al-Nusra and other “terrorist groups”, but said its warplanes would not fly any sorties over Syria on the first day of the ceasefire to avoid potential “mistakes”. Calm held throughout the night in Aleppo, Syria’s second city which has been almost encircled by pro-regime troops after a massive Russian-backed offensive that has caused tens of thousands to flee.While the major opposition groups in Syria – the HNC have chosen to respect the truce for two weeks ISIS and Nusra have not. A truce lasting for two weeks and dependent on aid and goodwill from the pro and anti-government forces will not last or make any major headway in combating the major problem which beleaguered Syria has to face — the final resolution of the problem of Syrian governance.It is wishful thinking to think that the tyrannical government of Assad will magically give up power and surrender to the anti-government forces in a massive support for democracy. This is unlikely to ever happen due to the backing of Russia and Iran. Similarly the anti-government forces, supported by the West, Turkey and the Gulf states, will also never back down as long as they are supplied with money, arms and ammunition. In other words, this truce will be yet another temporary ebb in the long drawn out war, which has engulfed Syria. As long as the forces which fight bearing different political ideologies, and are even fractured on religious lines (Shia-Sunni) the fighting will continue — leading into an ever large exodus of the Syrian people — over 11 million at last count, displaced internally or internationally. It is not a good time to be a Syrian.The peace in Syria does not depend on the people of Syria. As if the country does not belong to the people but Russia and its puppet President Bashar al-Assad matter more than the Syrian people. The power game of Russia has to be ended internationally through UN. Effective involvement of USA has become essential to face direct involvement of Russia in Syrian politics.
