UN officials yesterday attempted to arrange a brief ceasefire to permit the evacuation of peacekeepers being held by Syrian rebels near the Syrian-Israeli ceasefire line. They also dispatched vehicles to rescue the captives.
However, Abu Essam Taseel, spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk brigade, reportedly a fundamentalist jihadi group, said heavy Syrian army shelling prevented the UN convoy from reaching the rebel-held village of Jamla were the 21 Filipino peacekeepers were being held.
‘No negotiations’
He had said earlier that there were no negotiations between any parties and insisted that the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the outskirts of the village was the price for freeing the Filipinos who belong to their country’s 300-strong contingent in the UN Disengagement Observer Force monitoring the zone over the last 40 years.
“Negotiations should be between [the UN] and the re- gime of Bashar al-Assad to stop the bombing and lift the blockade of the area so it can be safe,” Mr Taseel said.
It had been reported that the peacekeepers were taken by the rebels to safety in the village during an assault by government forces. It was said they were being treated as “guests” rather than “hostages” and would be allowed to leave yesterday.
Meanwhile deadlock persists on the diplomatic front.
While western and Arab supporters of the opposition stepped up pressure on President Assad to leave, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov repeated that Moscow would “absolutely not” urge him to stand down.
“We’re not in the regime-change game,” Mr Lavrov said, adding that President Assad was “not bluffing” when he said he would stay in office. However, he was “prepared to discuss any issue – among the Syrians”. Mr Lavrov expressed optimism that the opposition and its backers might be prepared to show some flexibility by starting talks with representatives of the president while he was in office.
However, the opposition remains divided, with Moaz al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition, pressing for negotiations and hardline figures calling for the further militarisation of the conflict.
Following western expressions of reluctance to arm the rebels, defected ex-prime minister Riad Hijab stated: “Arming the Free Syrian Army is the only way of changing the situation on the ground and getting out of the hole the tyrant has dragged us into.”
His call for arms coincided with a statement by President Assad’s adviser Bouthaina Shaaban who thanked the Brics group of emerging power-broker nations for support that had discouraged western intervention and the “destruction” of Syria.
