|
France, though,
said it had information about fresh attacks on zones held by
moderate rebels, and called for an immediate meeting of the
Syria task force to address breaches of the cessation of
hostilities that came into force on Friday.
The cessation of hostilities deal is the first of its kind to be
attempted in four years. Syria's conflict began in 2011.
Stoltenberg told a news conference in the Gulf Arab state of
Kuwait: "We have seen some encouraging developments that the
ceasefire is largely holding but at the same time we have seen
some reports about violations of the ceasefire.
"This agreement and the full implementation of the agreement is
the best possible basis for renewing the efforts to find a
political negotiated peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria,"
he added.
The deal, which is less binding than a formal ceasefire and was
not directly signed by Syria's warring government and rebel
forces, does not cover action against militants from Islamic
State or the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his big power ally, Russia,
say they will continue to fight militant forces. Other rebels
say they fear this stance may be used to justify attacks against
them too.
"We are concerned," Stoltenberg said, "about the significant
Russian military build-up we have seen in Syria with the ground
troops, with the naval forces in eastern Mediterranean and with
air forces conducting air strikes."
(Reporting By Ahmed Hagagy, Yara Bayoumy, Ali Abdelatti; Writing
by Noah Browning; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|
