PHOTO: British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday (Evan Vucci/AP)
LATEST
- Sources: Some Regime Soldiers Executed in Abu Duhur Base, Others Freed or Still Held
- Video: Footage from Jabhat al-Nusra Drone of Suicide Bomb on Regime’s Idlib Enclave
- Photo: Syrian Toddler in Front of Turkish Police Blocking Movement of Refugees
- Rebels Declare Control of Damascus-Homs Highway
SUNDAY FEATURE
Facing stepped-up Russian military intervention in Syria, the US has repeated that President Assad must leave power — but it has said that the timing of his departure is negotiable.
Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in London on Saturday, Kerry said, “[Assad’s removal] doesn’t have to be on Day One or Month One. There is a process by which all the parties have to come together and reach an understanding of how this can best be achieved.”
Hammond had already said earlier this month that Assad could remain in power for “up to six months” during a transitional period for a political resolution.
Kerry tied this firmly on Saturday to a call upon Russia and Iran to convince Assad to accept the process:
We need to get to the negotiation. That is what we’re looking for and we hope Russia and Iran, and any other countries with influence, will help to bring about that, because that’s what is preventing this crisis from ending.
We’re prepared to negotiate. Is Assad prepared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?
The Secretary of State also showed a shift in the US position on Russia’s military escalation, including the expansion of an airbase in western Syria with helicopters and jet fighters; supply of advanced military equipment for the battlefield; and the additional of several hundred troops as “advisors”.
Washington had been critical of the moves, warning Moscow to step back, but Kerry now said that the US welcomes Russia’s involvement in the fight against the Islamic State, while saying that concerns were being met through direct communication with Moscow.
He explained that “clearly the presence of aircraft with air-to-air combat capacity [and] surface-to-air missiles raise serious questions, which is precisely why Secretary [of Defense Ashton] Carter talked with the Minister of Defense of Russia [Sergei] Shoigu” on Friday.
Ian Bremmer, the President of the Eurasia Group, observed:
US: Assad Must Go
Russia: No
US: Seriously
Russia: We're Sending Tanks
US: We're Flexible on Timing
Russia: Fighter Jets
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 19, 2015
Kerry said that a worsening refugee crisis underscored the need for political compromise which would include Assad’s departure at some point: “The people of Syria have already spoken with their feet. They’re leaving Syria.” However, in an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 News on Friday, he backed the Russian and Assad regime line that the Islamic State “is, obviously, the most significant player in the massive migrant crisis”.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said President Vladimir Putin will announce his initiative for resolving the crisis in Syria and combating terrorism in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 28.
Zasypkin the first stage of the initiative focuses on uniting all sides to remove the Islamic State from Syria. The second is ensuring that “influential regional and international forces pressure armed groups to embrace a political solution”, and the third is the unifying of efforts to stop the funding of “terrorists” and preventing them from entering Syria from neighboring countries.
Sources: Some Regime Soldiers Executed in Abu Duhur Base, Others Freed or Still Held
Local sources have given EA information about claims that the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra executed 56 regime soldiers at the captured Abu Duhur airbase in northwest Syria.
On Saturday, photographs showed Jabhat al-Nusra fighters alongside a row of bodies of slain regime troops, almost two weeks after the isolated base in Idlib Province fell to rebels.
Sources said that a sharia court passed sentences on the soldiers who remained in the base after other defenders — estimated to be about 300 — had fled or been killed. Some were condemned to death, while some were released to their families. Others are being held for possible prisoner exchanges with the regime.
Video: Footage from Jabhat al-Nusra Drone of Suicide Bomb on Regime’s Idlib Enclave
Footage from a drone of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra, capturing Saturday’s suicide bombing of the regime enclave of al-Fu’ah, north of Idlib city:
An offensive by the rebel coalition Jaish al-Fateh on the enclaves of al-Fu’ah and Kafraya began on Friday. In battles that have inflicted casualties on both sides, rebels have taken areas to the north, northeast, and south of al-Fu’ah.
See Syria Daily, Sept 19: Rebels Renew Offensive on Regime Enclaves in Northwest
Photo: Syrian Toddler in Front of Turkish Police Blocking Movement of Refugees
Rebels Declare Control of Damascus-Homs Highway
Rebels declared on Saturday that they had consolidated control of the main highway between Damascus and Homs, and said that they will reopen it to traffic from today.
The rebel coalition Jaish al-Islam captured a section of the highway northeast of Damascus in an offensive last week, as they took territory between the towns of Harasta and Adra, including a military headquarters and security branch.
The rebels claimed that they inflicted hundreds of casualties among regime forces in the operations.
See Syria Daily, Sept 14: Rebel Offensives Near Damascus and Close to “Assad’s Heartland”
