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| First test for Syrian truce after breaches reported on both sides | First test for Syrian truce after breaches reported on both sides |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The Syrian ceasefire is facing its first serious test after Syrian opposition leaders claimed it was close to collapse and the French government called for a meeting of the monitoring body amid allegations that Syrian and Russian forces had seriously breached its terms. | |
| The ceasefire came into force on Friday night and was widely thought to have held on the first day, but the Syrian High Negotiating Council (HNC), which represents rebel factions, said on Sunday that breaches had nullified the process. | The ceasefire came into force on Friday night and was widely thought to have held on the first day, but the Syrian High Negotiating Council (HNC), which represents rebel factions, said on Sunday that breaches had nullified the process. |
| The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) will meet in Geneva at the request of the French to examine whether the alleged breaches were deliberate, the product of competing misinterpretations of the ceasefire, or military error. | The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) will meet in Geneva at the request of the French to examine whether the alleged breaches were deliberate, the product of competing misinterpretations of the ceasefire, or military error. |
| The French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said: “We have received indications that attacks, including by air, have been continuing against zones controlled by the moderate opposition. | The French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said: “We have received indications that attacks, including by air, have been continuing against zones controlled by the moderate opposition. |
| Related: Syrian rebel factions say they will respect two-week truce | Related: Syrian rebel factions say they will respect two-week truce |
| “All this needs to be verified. France has therefore demanded that the taskforce charged with overseeing the cessation of hostilities meet without delay.” | “All this needs to be verified. France has therefore demanded that the taskforce charged with overseeing the cessation of hostilities meet without delay.” |
| A spokesman for the Saudi-backed HNC said the cessation of hostilities was broken by Syria’s government 15 times within the first day, and that there were further violations by Russia and Hezbollah, both allies of president Bashar al-Assad. | A spokesman for the Saudi-backed HNC said the cessation of hostilities was broken by Syria’s government 15 times within the first day, and that there were further violations by Russia and Hezbollah, both allies of president Bashar al-Assad. |
| In the gloomiest assessment, Asaad al-Zoubi, head of the HNC’s delegation to the peace talks, gave a gloomy assessment of the truce. “We are not facing a violation of the truce … we are facing a complete nullification,” he said on Al Arabiya al Hadath TV. | |
| “I believe the international community has totally failed in all its experiments, and must take real, practical measures towards the [Syrian] regime,” Zoubi said, without elaborating. | |
| Russia, which has swung the war in favour of Assad with a five-month bombing campaign, accused “moderate” rebels and jihadis of nine ceasefire violations. But Lt Gen Sergei Kuralenko, head of Moscow’s coordination centre in Syria, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that on the whole, the ceasefire was holding. | |
| The White House said it had always expected potholes in the initial ceasefire. | |
| That view was shared in London by the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, who said the ceasefire “appears largely to be holding for now” but warned a major change of behaviour by the Russians was required for it to persist. He again claimed 70% of Russian attacks were directed at moderate Syrian opposition. | |
| Stephen O’Brien, the under secretary general for UN emergency relief, also claimed the ceasefire was holding and 20 trucks had been despatched with aid to Moadamiyet al-Sham, a town in southern Syria encircled by government forces, and another 31 were to follow on Monday. He said the aim was to reach 4 further besieged towns in the coming days. | |
| He appealed to all sides: “Safe unimpeded access by humanitarians to bring aid is the law. It should be granted come what may. States have already signed up to this – it is not conditional.” | |
| Related: The Guardian view on the US and Russia in Syria: rivals who need each other | Editorial | |
| The extension of aid will depend on whether the ISSG, led by the United States and Russia, can quickly iron out breaches of the ceasefire, and prevent the trust evaporating, leading to a rapid collapse. The ISSG is supposed to monitor compliance with the deal and act rapidly to investigate any breaches.. The Americans and the Russians have separate ceasefire monitoring operations and arguably different interpretations of the territories that are subject to the ceasefire. | |
| All sides have agreed that fighting against Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front – deemed to be a Syrian franchise of al-Qaida – are excluded from the ceasefire. Some Syrian rebels supported by the west fight alongside al-Nusra. | All sides have agreed that fighting against Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front – deemed to be a Syrian franchise of al-Qaida – are excluded from the ceasefire. Some Syrian rebels supported by the west fight alongside al-Nusra. |
| Saudi Arabia has also signalled that it is planning to join the fight against Isis, with an aide to the defence minister confirming that four fighter jets had arrived at Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base. They had not yet participated in any attacks, he said. | |
| An HNC spokesman, Salim al-Muslat, said it was still unclear how the cessation of hostilities was supposed to function. | |
| Asaad al-Zoubi, another HNC official, said the agreement had collapsed before it started and it faced “complete nullification”, al-Arabiya al-Hadath TV reported. | |
| “We need to get an explanation from the Russians on the strikes that took place on Sunday,” said one western diplomat. | “We need to get an explanation from the Russians on the strikes that took place on Sunday,” said one western diplomat. |
| In a bid to calm the atmosphere, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said on Monday that the cessation was largely holding but that major and regional powers were looking into some incidents that he hoped would be contained. | In a bid to calm the atmosphere, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said on Monday that the cessation was largely holding but that major and regional powers were looking into some incidents that he hoped would be contained. |
| There was particular concern about violence in Eastern Ghouta, a stronghold of the Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army) rebel group, which is an influential member of the main opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee, and has been used as a launch pad for rocket and mortar attacks on Damascus. | |
| The UN’s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is hoping to reconvene peace talks in Geneva next Monday, but the progress of the ceasefire will determine whether even proximity talks, in which both sides negotiate through an intermediary, get under way. | The UN’s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is hoping to reconvene peace talks in Geneva next Monday, but the progress of the ceasefire will determine whether even proximity talks, in which both sides negotiate through an intermediary, get under way. |
| In a sign of how the talks might develop, it was suggested that Syria could become a federal state if that model worked in the country. The suggestion was made by the Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, at a news briefing as a way of resolving arguments about whether Assad would remain in power. Ryabkov also warned there were signs that Turkey, on the northern border of Syria, was still preparing attacks. | In a sign of how the talks might develop, it was suggested that Syria could become a federal state if that model worked in the country. The suggestion was made by the Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, at a news briefing as a way of resolving arguments about whether Assad would remain in power. Ryabkov also warned there were signs that Turkey, on the northern border of Syria, was still preparing attacks. |
| An official with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said dozens of lorries carrying aid had entered a besieged rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, for the first time since the truce took effect. The UN wants to deliver food, medicine and other supplies to more than 150,000 people under siege in Syria over the next five days. | An official with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said dozens of lorries carrying aid had entered a besieged rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, for the first time since the truce took effect. The UN wants to deliver food, medicine and other supplies to more than 150,000 people under siege in Syria over the next five days. |
| The office of the UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said thousands of people risked starving to death in besieged towns and villages inaccessible to humanitarian aid groups. | The office of the UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said thousands of people risked starving to death in besieged towns and villages inaccessible to humanitarian aid groups. |
| Pending approval from parties to the conflict, the UN said it was ready to deliver aid to an estimated 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas over the first three months of this year through UN inter-agency convoys. | Pending approval from parties to the conflict, the UN said it was ready to deliver aid to an estimated 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas over the first three months of this year through UN inter-agency convoys. |