US, Russia push for Syria deal

Geneva, August 26 

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov sought on Friday to finalise an agreement on fighting Islamist militants in Syria as the first evacuees left a besieged Damascus suburb under a plan which has aroused the UN’s concern.

A deal on fighting jihadists in Syria could help lead to an end to fighting between the army and its militia allies on one side and non-jihadist rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. This could pave the way for talks on a political transition to end the five-year Syrian conflict.

As Kerry and the Russian foreign minister met at a hotel on Lake Geneva, residents and insurgents began to leave the beseieged Damascus suburb of Daraya where civilians have been trapped since 2012, witnesses said. Rebels and Syria’s army agreed the plan on Thursday to evacuate all 4,000 residents and some 700 insurgents from Daraya in the coming days, ending one of the longest stand-offs in the civil war.

But the United Nations was not consulted on the plan and  UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and UN humanitarian coordinator Stephen O’Brien, voiced deep concern about it on Friday.

Civilians should be evacuated only if their safety could be guaranteed and it was on a voluntary basis, they said.

“It is imperative that people of Daraya are protected in any evacuation that takes place, and that this takes place voluntarily,” de Mistura, who leads U.N. political and humanitarian efforts in Syria, said in a statement after holding talks with Kerry and Lavrov.

Senior White House officials from the National Security Council (NSC) joined the talks between Kerry and Lavrov, which broke after four hours, but were set to resume later.

While Kerry said this week that technical teams from both sides were close to the end of their discussions, US officials indicated it was too early to say whether an agreement was likely. — Reuters

Erdogan, Putin for faster aid delivery

• Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call on Friday to accelerate efforts to deliver aid to Syria's Aleppo, Erdogan's office said in a statement
• Erdogan informed Putin about Turkey's incursion into Syria that started early on Wednesday, and the two stressed the importance of cooperation for regional security against Islamic State

Won’t leave Syria for now: Turkey

• Turkish forces will remain in Syria for as long as it takes to cleanse the border of Islamic State and other militants, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday
• We will continue our operations (in Syria) until we fully guarantee security of life and property for our citizens. We will continue until Daesh (Islamic State) is taken out, he said