AFP, Damascus :
A UN envoy arrived in the Syrian capital today for talks with the regime to try to finalise a deal to freeze fighting in the war-ravaged second city of Aleppo.
Staffan de Mistura visited Damascus as the army and pro-regime fighters regained territory in southern Syria from forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
De Mistura “hopes to set in motion as soon as possible his project” to halt fighting in Aleppo for six weeks, said a member of his delegation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The envoy has met government officials and opposition chiefs in recent weeks to promote his plan for a temporary truce in Aleppo in order to move aid into the northern city.
Once Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting that began in mid-2012, and the city is now split between loyalist forces and rebels.
Last week De Mistura said the government had shown a willingness to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo for six weeks to allow a humanitarian ceasefire.
Under the plan, rebels would be asked to suspend rocket and mortar fire there during the freeze.
De Mistura incurred the wrath of the opposition earlier in February by describing Assad as “part of the solution” to the conflict.
About 220,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests that spiralled into a multi-sided civil war drawing foreign jihadists.
In Daraa province southwest of Damascus, regime troops backed by Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Iranian advisers and Iraqi militiamen gained territory from opposition rebels and Al Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
A UN envoy arrived in the Syrian capital today for talks with the regime to try to finalise a deal to freeze fighting in the war-ravaged second city of Aleppo.
Staffan de Mistura visited Damascus as the army and pro-regime fighters regained territory in southern Syria from forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
De Mistura “hopes to set in motion as soon as possible his project” to halt fighting in Aleppo for six weeks, said a member of his delegation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The envoy has met government officials and opposition chiefs in recent weeks to promote his plan for a temporary truce in Aleppo in order to move aid into the northern city.
Once Syria’s commercial hub, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting that began in mid-2012, and the city is now split between loyalist forces and rebels.
Last week De Mistura said the government had shown a willingness to suspend aerial bombardment of Aleppo for six weeks to allow a humanitarian ceasefire.
Under the plan, rebels would be asked to suspend rocket and mortar fire there during the freeze.
De Mistura incurred the wrath of the opposition earlier in February by describing Assad as “part of the solution” to the conflict.
About 220,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests that spiralled into a multi-sided civil war drawing foreign jihadists.
In Daraa province southwest of Damascus, regime troops backed by Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Iranian advisers and Iraqi militiamen gained territory from opposition rebels and Al Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
