- Title: UN envoy offers to put himself in firing line for Aleppo peace
- Date: 6th October 2016
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (OCTOBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE UNITED NATIONS BUILDING VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS INSIDE THE BUILDING WAITING FOR THE PRESS CONFERENCE TO START STAFFAN DE MISTURA ENTERING THE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "And if you did decide to leave in dignity and with your weapons to Idlib or anywhere you wanted to go, I personally am ready physically, to accompany you." JOURNALISTS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "In the eyes of the world and of the public opinion, are you really ready to continue this type of level of fighting using that type of weapons and de facto, destroy the whole eastern city of Aleppo, ancient city of Aleppo with its own 275,000 people for the sake of eliminating 1,000 al-Nusra fighters? Or, are you rather ready to announce an immediate and total aerial bombing halt if al-Nusra leaves?" CAMERAMAN AT WORK (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "The bottom line is in maximum two months, two and a half months, the city of eastern Aleppo, at this rate, may be totally destroyed. We are talking about the old city in particular. And thousands of civilians, not terrorists, will be killed; and many of them wounded and thousands and thousands of them may try to become refugees in order to escape from this, 275,000." JOURNALISTS AT WORK (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "No one can deny that we are in an emergency mode, let's be frank, regarding Syria, regarding Aleppo, about the future of this conflict." PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM
- Embargoed: 21st October 2016 13:50
- Keywords: Syria crisis mideast UN de Mistura peace Aleppo Russia Nusra fighters
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00152VAD6V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura offered on Thursday (October 6) to go to eastern Aleppo and escort up to 1,000 Islamist fighters out of the city for the sake of a halt to the bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces.
De Mistura said history would judge Syria and Russia if they used the presence of about 900 former Nusra Front fighters to justify destroying the rebel-held besieged area, killing thousands of the 275,000 citizens, 100,000 of whom are children.
"If you did decide to leave in dignity and with your weapons to Idlib or anywhere you wanted to go, I personally am ready physically, to accompany you," de Mistura told a news conference in Geneva, addressing his plea directly to the former Nusra fighters.
Addressing himself to the Russians and the Syrian government, he said: "Are you really ready to continue this type of level of fighting using that type of weapons, and de facto destroy the whole city of eastern Aleppo ancient city of Aleppo with its own 275,000 people for the sake of eliminating 1,000 al-Nusra fighters? Or, are you rather ready to announce an immediate and total aerial bombing halt if al-Nusra leaves?"
The alternative was an immediate halt to the bombing in response to the Nusra fighters' departure, which would leave the local administration in place.
The U.N. should then be allowed to reach the population with humanitarian medical aid, he said.
The veteran diplomat added without action the eastern part of the city would be razed by Christmas.
"The bottom line is in maximum two months, two and a half months, the city of eastern Aleppo, at this rate, may be totally destroyed. We are talking about the old city in particular. And thousands of civilians, not terrorists, will be killed; and many of them wounded and thousands and thousands of them may try to become refugees in order to escape from this, 275,000," he said.
De Mistura said that there were a maximum of 8,000 fighters in eastern Aleppo, including those formerly known as Nusra Front, who have renamed themselves as Jabhat Fateh al Sham.
At least 200 wounded civilians needed medical evacuation to save their lives. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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