De Mistura in Damascus, Seeks Quick Aleppo Truce
Local Editor
UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura hopes to finalize a deal to freeze fighting in Syria's second city Aleppo during talks Saturday with the Syrian government, an official said.
De Mistura is in Damascus in Saturday's afternoon and "hopes to set in motion as soon as possible his project" to halt fighting in Aleppo for six weeks, said a member of his delegation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The envoy has met with government officials and opposition chiefs in recent weeks to promote his plan for a temporary truce in Aleppo in order to move aid into the northern city.
Once Syria's commercial hub, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting that began in mid-2012.
Last week De Mistura said "the government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks all over the city of Aleppo from a date we'll announce from Damascus".
Under the plan, the militants would be asked to suspend rocket and mortar fire in the city during the freeze.
De Mistura's visit to Damascus coincides with a meeting of the main opposition so-called "National Coalition" in the Turkish border town of Kilis to discuss the his plan, an alliance spokesman said.
It would run into Sunday and conclude "with an announcement on the creation of a follow-up committee that will make contact with De Mistura about his project," said the spokesman.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad told al-Watan newspaper that the envoy suggested the trial begin simultaneously in Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla neighbourhoods.
French parliamentarians who met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday have said the head of the Syrian state expressed support for the plan which De Mistura has been mulling since his appointment in July.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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