PHOTO: Delegates at the Vienna Conference on Friday

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As Russia Holds Talks, 130+ Killed in Douma and Aleppo Attacks

UPDATE 1315 GMT: Saudi Arabia has repeated its position that President Assad must step aside, although it indicated on Saturday that the timing depends on the establishment of a stable State and political system.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a conference in Bahrain, “On Syria, the issue has to do with determining a new leadership other than Assad. That is the main objective as we see it.” He also said that “foreign forces” — such as Hezbollah and Iranian units — must leave Syria.

“The idea here is to ensure the departure of Assad doesn’t create a collapse of the state and a political vacuum,” al-Jubeir explained.

The Foreign Minister also indicated that Riyadh will maintain military pressure on Damascus if a political solution is not established, supplying rebels with “more lethal weapons to fight the Assad regime”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: On the surface, Friday’s Russian-convened international conference in Vienna merely agreed to continue talking in two weeks.

In press conferences after eight-hour talks, Foreign Ministers put out the line of “tough conversations” but with hope of a “new diplomatic process”. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius summarized, “There are points of disagreement, but we advanced enough for us to meet again, in the same configuration, in two weeks.”

But the agreed 9-point communique of the meeting offers a more important message: the 16 countries, UN, and European Union appear to have replaced the long-standing demand for a “transitional government” — in which President Assad would depart — with “credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance”. There would then be “elections”, in which Assad and/or members of his inner circle might stand to maintain power.

The participants invited the UN to convene representatives of the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition for a political process leading to credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance, followed by a new constitution and elections. These elections must be administered under UN supervision to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, free and fair, with all Syrians, including the diaspora, eligible to participate.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized these points in his statement to journalists, even as he dismissed the notion of a credible opposition with whom discussions can be held: “We do not yet see a representative delegation.”

On the central question of the Syrian President’s future, he was non-committal: “We have no agreement on the destiny of Assad. Russia believes that it is up to Syrian people to decide within the framework of the political process.”

Fabius did appear to draw a line excluding the Syrian President from a long-term resolution: “Assad is the key culprit of the Syrian tragedy. He can’t be part of the future political project in Syria.”

In contrast, Iran insisted on no restrictions on the President. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, “Published reports stating that Iran has agreed that Assad leave within six months and so on…are strongly and emphatically denied.”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told journalists, “The future of Syria can only be determined by the people of Syria. People here are not here to dictate.”

The communique also said conference participants will explore ways to implement a ceasefire “in parallel” with the political press. It insisted that “Daesh [the Islamic State] and other terrorist groups…must be defeated”.

Russia uses the term “terrorists” to refer to all armed opponents of the Assad regime. The communique limited terrorist groups to those “designated by the UN Security Council and further, as agreed by the participants”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry preferred a focus on that provision rather than the question of Assad, “[I am] confident President [Obama] wants to make certain that we are maximizing our effort against the terrorists as well as maximizing our effort to bring peace through a political track.”

US Announces $100 Million for Opposition

The US has announced another $100 million in assistance for the Syrian opposition.

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the provision of the aid, bringing the US total since 2012 to nearly $500 million, at a conference in Bahrain.

The State Department said the money will support local and provincial councils, civil society activists, emergency first responders, and infrastructure such as schools and utilities.

“Syrian Democratic Forces” Announce Offensive to Push Islamic State Out of Hasakah Province

The Syrian Democratic Forces have announced an offensive to push the Islamic State out of Hasakah Province in northeast Syria:

The SDF declared in the official statement:

to bring back security and stability to the region, this campaign will endure and emerge stronger until it frees all districts in southern Hasakah that have been occupied by the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group.

We call on all of our people throughout Syria, particularly in southern Hasakah, to back the Syrian Democratic Forces that are determinedly continuing the struggle to free the people from Daesh terrorists’ tyranny there.

We urge the people to stay away from Daesh-occupied areas because the terrorists will try to capture and use civilian population as human shields against our units’ operations.

Founded in October, the SDF is led by the Kurdish militia YPG, joined by about 4,000 Arab fighters — mainly from Liwa Thuwwar al-Raqqa — the Christian Syriac Military Council, and the tribal al-Sanadid Forces.

On Friday, the Obama Administration announced that it was placing up to 50 Special Forces personnel into northeast Syria to support forces fighting the Islamic State.

Pro-Regime Outlets Claim Advance South of Aleppo

[UPDATE: Pro-opposition accounts claimed on Saturday afternoon that rebels are already regaining control of some of the villages.

Jabhat al-Nusra footage of the recapture of al-Qarrasi]

Pro-regime sites are claiming an advance in the offensive south of Aleppo city.

Al-Masdar News says that the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, Hezbollah, National Defense Forces militia, and Iranian-commanded Iraqi and Afghan units have advanced several kilometers on Saturday, capturing six villages.

The offensive is hoping to claim the town of al-Hadher, near the M5 highway from Aleppo to rebel-held Idlib Province.

The south Aleppo offensive began on October 14, a week after the Syrian military began its six-front attack with Russian air cover and the support of Hezbollah, Iranian units, and Iraqi, Afghan, and Pakistani militia.

The attacks have made only limited gains so far, with some territory being handed back and forth between the Syrian military and rebels.

Russia: More than 1,600 Targets Hit By Our Bombing

The Russian military said on Friday that Moscow’s warplanes have struck more than 1,600 “terrorist infrastructure facilities” in their first month of operations inside Syria.

Colonel-General Andrey Kartapolov said that 1,391 sorties had struck 249 control and communications centers, 51 training camps, 35 plants and workshops for the production of explosive devices, 131 munitions depots, 371 strongholds, and 786 field camps and bases.

Even though 80% of Russian attacks have been on rebel-controlled areas, the military continues to frame its airstrikes as directed against the Islamic State.