Rebels in Syria's eastern Ghouta welcome UN ceasefire resolution
February 25, 2018
BEIRUT: The two major rebel factions in Syria’s eastern Ghouta welcomed on Saturday a UN resolution demanding a 30-day truce across the country to allow aid access and medical evacuations.
In separate statements, Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman pledged to protect aid convoys that come into the besieged rebel enclave near Damascus.
The insurgents said they would commit to a truce but would respond to any violation by the Syrian government and its allies.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted the resolution on Saturday, as one of the deadliest air assaults of the seven-year war pounded eastern Ghouta this week.
Earlier, on Friday, the UNSC had delayed a vote on a demand for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, where pro-government warplanes have been pounding the last rebel bastion near Damascus in one of the deadliest bombing campaigns of the seven-year civil war.
The 24-hour delay followed a flurry of last-minute negotiations on the text drafted by Sweden and Kuwait after Russia — a veto-holding ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — had proposed new amendments on Friday.
“Unbelievable that Russia is stalling a vote on a ceasefire allowing humanitarian access in Syria,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley posted on Twitter.
Talks centred on the paragraph demanding a cessation of hostilities for 30 days to allow aid access and medical evacuations.
