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Syria Opposition Says Truce Breached 15 Times Saturday, Twice by Hizbullah
[An Nahar] Syria's main opposition grouping recorded 15 violations by government troops and allied forces on the first day of a landmark truce, a front man told news hounds on Sunday.Sounds like a replay of the Leb civil war. "There were 15 violations by the regime forces on day one of the ceasefire, including two attacks by (Lebanese group) Hizbullah ... Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... in Zabadani" west of Damascus, said Salem al-Meslet, front man for the High Negotiations Committee. Speaking by telephone from Riyadh, Meslet said the HNC would be lodging a formal letter of complaint with U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura, U.N. chief  the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon and the foreign ministers of the International Syria Support Group. The U.N.-backed deal came into effect on Saturday, with battle zones across the country going largely quiet despite some accusations of breaches. The HNC announced earlier that 97 opposition factions had agreed to respect the truce, for two weeks initially. Meslet said none of those groups had responded to the violations on Saturday. "For the opposition forces there, nobody reacted because the decision is to remain quiet and I believe they will stick to the truce." Meslet said the deal was "the first step in the right direction" to bring an end to the bloody conflict in Syria. "The thing is, it is positive for us to see people relieved... We have violations here and there, but in general it is a lot better than before and people are comfortable," Meslet said. "That is our main objective -- for our people there to be safe from this fear that has been there for five years now." Posted by: Fred 2016-02-29 |
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