Pakistan welcomes Syria ceasefire agreement

The United Nations special envoy for Syria said Friday he plans to resume peace talks on March 7 if a cessation of hostilities negotiated by the United States and Russian Federation that began at midnight local time “largely holds”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been a major advocate of the ceasefire but others in Washington have been less optimistic about the chances of ending a conflict that has left more than 270,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.

On Friday, hours before the cease-fire came into effect, warplanes unleashed airstrikes against rebel-held positions in the suburbs of the Syrian capital and near the northern city of Aleppo.

“Rebel leaders tell NPR they fear Russian Federation, which is backing the Syrian regime, will keep striking their positions under the claim that it is attacking an al-Qaida-linked group – Jabhat al-Nusra – that is not included in the deal”.

Nusra Front on Friday called for an escalation in fighting, urging insurgents to intensify their attacks against Assad and his allies in a call that added to the dangers facing the fragile agreement.

At 2000 GMT, the UN Security Council will hear from UN Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has indicated that he is planning a new round of peace talks to build on the ceasefire.

As the deadline approached, heavy air strikes were reported to have hit rebel-held areas near Damascus as fighting raged across much of western Syria.

And as for the future of Syria, Obama said: “Such a future, I am convinced, can not include Bashar al-Assad”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the air raids were conducted in conjunction with Syrian government artillery fire.

Earlier in the day, Russia’s foreign minister said it expects the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution endorsing the planned “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, but nobody can give a 100 percent guarantee that the ceasefire plan will be implemented.

The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) also announced that it would temporarily adhere to the truce. A spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has serious worries about the plan to halt violence in Syria because of the continued fighting on the ground.

This is the first time the full group meets.

“We are certain that there will continue to be fighting”, Obama said, noting that IS, the Nusra Front and other groups aren’t part of the negotiations.

A source close to the U.N. Syrian peace process in Geneva said the “vast majority” of eligible armed groups had signaled they would agree to the plan. “It’s clear that after years of his barbaric war against his own people – including torture, and barrel bombs, and sieges, and starvation – many Syrians will never stop fighting until Assad is out of power”.