- Title: Russia pauses Aleppo bombing 11 hours for four days, U.N. wants more
- Date: 20th October 2016
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (OCTOBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA STAFFAN DE MISTURA AND HIS SPECIAL ADVISER JAN EGELAND ARRIVING FOR BRIEFING DE MISTURA AND EGELAND STANDING BEHIND PODIUMS JOURNALIST USING HIS LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (English) UN SPECIAL ADVISER OF UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA JAN EGELAND SAYING: "We believe we now have all of the green lights that we need, both from the Russians and the government, and from the armed opposition groups inside, and we hope that the first medical evacuations can take place tomorrow, and they will be organised by United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO), with Red Cross, Red Crescent partners and help from non-governmental organizations. These will be evacuations of critically wounded or sick people, who will have a choice of either going to west Aleppo, which is government-controlled, or to Idlib, which is opposition-controlled." SECURITY PERSONNEL STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UN SPECIAL ADVISER OF UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA JAN EGELAND SAYING: "They (the Russian Federation) have said 11 hours per day, and four days from today, Thursday, we hope it can be four days from tomorrow Friday, and this was a request to Russia today, and thye will come back on that additional day." JOURNALISTS / DE MISTURA AND EGELAND DURING BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SPECIAL ADVISER TO SYRIA SEPCIAL ENVOY JAN EGELAND SAYING: "This will be a very dangerous operation. A lot of things could still go wrong, we've learnt that from better experience. But we hope and pray that the members of the humanitarian task force - both Russia and its like-minded, the United States and its like-minded, will enable us to undertake this much needed operation." JOURNALISTS USING LAPTOPS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA STAFFAN DE MISTURA SAYING: "The figures are clear. There are perhaps six to 7,000 perhaps fighters, there are 275,000 civilians, many of them, 100,000, are children. Their voice needs to be heard, and only their voice. But certainly, my feeling is, that from what I'm hearing, that the people do not want to leave their places. They do not want to become refugees. They want to stay in their place, but they do request 'stop the bombings,' which needs to be, by the way, from both sides." UNITED NATIONS BUILDING
- Embargoed: 4th November 2016 12:50
- Keywords: Syria Staffan de Mistura ceasefire Aleppo humanitarian aid Russia
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00154T87D3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Russia has told the United Nations it will stop bombing eastern Aleppo for 11 hours a day for four days, but that is not enough to trigger a wider ceasefire deal under which militants would leave the Syrian war zone, the U.N. said on Thursday (October 20).
The Syrian military said a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave eastern Aleppo, a move rejected by rebels who say they are preparing a counter-offensive to break the blockade.
"They have said 11 hours per day, and four days from today, Thursday, we hope it can be four days from tomorrow Friday, and this was a request to Russia today, and they will come back on that additional day", U.N. Special Adviser to Syria Special Envoy Jan Egeland told reporters, noting that Russia had originally announced an eight-hour pause, but the U.N. objected it was too short to evacuate wounded and bring in assistance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a pause in Russian air strikes on Syria's Aleppo may be extended, but not if rebels use the break to regroup or renew attacks.
"We believe we now have all of the green lights that we need, both from the Russians and the Government, and from the armed opposition groups inside, and we hope that the first medical evacuations can take place tomorrow," Egeland said.
The evacuated residents will have a choice of either going to west Aleppo, which is government-controlled, or to Idlib, which is opposition-controlled, he added.
"This will be a very dangerous operation, a lot of things could still go wrong, we've learnt that from better experience. But we hope and pray that the members of the humanitarian task force - both Russia and its like-minded, the United States and its like-minded, will enable us to undertake this much needed operation," Egeland said.
Russia has said it stopped bombing because it expects fighters from the former Nusra Front, now Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group, to leave the city, under a ceasefire deal proposed by U.N. Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
But de Mistura said he regarded the pauses in the bombing as a response to the U.N. request for medical evacuations.
His ceasefire proposal required more conditions: one, that ex-Nusra Front fighters agreed to leave, and another, that the Syrian Government agreed to respect the local administration in eastern Aleppo. These two conditions were not yet fulfilled.
De Mistura said there were "perhaps 6,000-7,000" rebel fighters in eastern Aleppo, apparently revising an estimate two weeks ago in which he said there were 8,000 rebels there, including up to 900 members of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
"My feeling is, that the people do not want to leave their places. They do not want to become refugees. They want to stay in their place, but they do request 'stop the bombings', which needs to be, by the way, from both sides," de Mistura said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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