Reuters, Beirut :
A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a partial truce in Syria in areas covered by the deal, a monitoring group said on Saturday, highlighting its fragile nature just days before the United Nations attempts to reconvene peace talks.
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks, originally due to begin on Monday in Geneva, would get off to a staggered start later in the week, with delegates arriving from Wednesday onwards.
The U.N. said the delay was due to “logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down”. “I see us beginning on (Thursday) March 10 when we will launch the process,” de Mistura said in an interview with pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat. A pro-Damascus Lebanese TV channel, al-Mayadeen, reported from its own sources that talks had been moved to March 13. Reuters could not independently verify this.
The five-year Syrian civil war has killed more than a quarter of a million people and
created a massive refugee crisis in Lebanon, Turkey and the European Union.
The partial truce, drawn up by Washington and Moscow, came into force a week ago and has slowed the pace of the war, although it does not include Islamic State militants or the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The opposition is dissatisfied with the implementation of the deal and has yet to say whether it will attend the new talks. Fighting continues in many parts of Syria, and the rebels say the government has kept up attacks on strategically important frontlines.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 135 people were killed in areas covered by the ‘cessation of hostilities’ agreement since it came into force on Feb. 27. In areas not covered by the truce, 552 people were killed, said the Britain-based group, which tracks the conflict via sources on the ground.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a phone conversation late on Friday, called for a prompt start to the peace negotiations, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a partial truce in Syria in areas covered by the deal, a monitoring group said on Saturday, highlighting its fragile nature just days before the United Nations attempts to reconvene peace talks.
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks, originally due to begin on Monday in Geneva, would get off to a staggered start later in the week, with delegates arriving from Wednesday onwards.
The U.N. said the delay was due to “logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down”. “I see us beginning on (Thursday) March 10 when we will launch the process,” de Mistura said in an interview with pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat. A pro-Damascus Lebanese TV channel, al-Mayadeen, reported from its own sources that talks had been moved to March 13. Reuters could not independently verify this.
The five-year Syrian civil war has killed more than a quarter of a million people and
created a massive refugee crisis in Lebanon, Turkey and the European Union.
The partial truce, drawn up by Washington and Moscow, came into force a week ago and has slowed the pace of the war, although it does not include Islamic State militants or the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The opposition is dissatisfied with the implementation of the deal and has yet to say whether it will attend the new talks. Fighting continues in many parts of Syria, and the rebels say the government has kept up attacks on strategically important frontlines.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 135 people were killed in areas covered by the ‘cessation of hostilities’ agreement since it came into force on Feb. 27. In areas not covered by the truce, 552 people were killed, said the Britain-based group, which tracks the conflict via sources on the ground.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a phone conversation late on Friday, called for a prompt start to the peace negotiations, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
