U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura
Talks between major powers this month on setting up a committee to lead constitutional reform in Syria will be a "moment of truth" for a credible political process, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Tuesday.
De Mistura will hold separate sets of talks next week, one involving Russia, Turkey and Iran, and the other including the United States and Saudi Arabia, to discuss the makeup of the committee.
He said it must not be allowed to become a "long, winding process about the process" but could be the entry point into Syrian government reforms leading to elections after the war.
The Kremlin dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to Syria not to launch an offensive in the opposition-held enclave of Idlib, saying on Tuesday that the area was a "nest of terrorism".Trump on Monday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia not to "recklessly attack" the northwestern Syrian province, saying hundreds of thousands of people could be killed."Just to speak out with some warnings, without taking into account the very dangerous, negative potential for the whole situation in Syria, is probably not a full, comprehensive approach," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The presence of the opposition in Idlib was undermining the Syrian peace process and making the region a base for attacks on Russian forces in Syria, Peskov added.Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib"A fairly large group has settled there and of course this leads to a general destabilisation of the situation. It undermines attempts to bring the situation onto the track of a political-diplomatic settlement," he said."We know that Syria's armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem," he added.Russia resumed air strikes in Idlib province on Tuesday after a hiatus of several weeks, according to a Syrian opposition member and a war monitor.A source has told Reuters that Assad is preparing a phased offensive to regain the province.The situation around Idlib will be one of the main items on the agenda when the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey meet in Tehran this week, Peskov told reporters on a conference call, declining to elaborate further. UN sees 'moment of truth' for Syria political processAssad sought peace with Israel in 2010: Kerry memoir
Kremlin dismisses Trump warning on Syria's Idlib
The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, remains committed to providing humanitarian relief in Syria since the country has been locked in a vicious civil war from the beginning of 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.Speaking to Yeni Şafak daily, head of the Syrian White Helmets Raed Saleh underlined that they are not a part of the fight between U.S. and Russia, and that their only goal is to save innocent lives.“We have a single aim: to help as many innocent people as possible after the bombardments that target civilians. In addition, we support the reconstruction process of parks, roads, bridges, water-treatment plants and orphanages,” he said. “We have saved 115,000 lives in Syria in seven years,” Saleh added.Regime forces set ground for a major massacre in Idlib “The forces that shelled mosques, schools, bazaars, hospitals and thousands of civilian houses since 2011 are in preparation for the last and biggest bloodbath in Idlib. We were the ones who reported all the violations of the Assad regime and its allies, notably chemical weapons, to independent international organizations. Attacks against us stem from the fact that we have provided evidence of their massacres,” Saleh said. Idlib, located in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, has faced intense attacks by the Bashar al-Assad regime after a vicious civil war broke out in 2011. Since March 2015, Idlib is no longer under the control of the Assad regime and has been overrun by opposition groups.The Assad regime is currently preparing for an offensive against the last opposition-held stronghold of Syria’s Idlib.Over 250 aid volunteers martyred in Syria “65,000 people are currently ready for duty as an emergency volunteers at the areas we remain in. Two hundred and twenty-seven of them are women. We have lost 225 martyrs in this war and 700 of our volunteers were wounded. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) supported us the most. The biggest support we received was, without a doubt, from Syrian civilians.”Regime forces target our headquarters “Assad forces are in preparations to attack our headquarters in Idlib, Lattakia, Homs and Aleppo. They want to repeat the massacres in Khan Sheikhoun and Eastern Ghouta. Turkey is the most powerful country in the Syrian issue, and in the upcoming process, the prominent role of Turkey will be grasped better. We follow the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government that are conducted in the region to prevent fresh massacres. At least 100 people were killed and hundreds of others injured in the chemical attack in April 2017 in Khan Sheikhoun in western Idlib province. The United Nations called on Russia, Iran and Turkey to forestall a battle in Idlib which would affect millions of civilians and could see the government potentially using chlorine as a chemical weapon.
'White Helmets saved 115,000 lives in Syria'
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to “recklessly attack” Idlib province amid reports of a potential military offensive by regime forces.“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy,” Trump posted on Twitter.“Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!” he added.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities that were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.In May, Idlib was designated a “de-escalation zone” -- in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden -- as part of ongoing peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.Earlier Monday, Germany and France expressed concern about a possible major offensive in the region.Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who arrived in Damascus Monday for talks ahead of a planned trilateral summit on war-torn Syria, said the Al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist groups “must be cleaned out of Idlib”.
Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib