US ties Syria aid flow to joint cell with Russia

The United States said on Friday that it will not set up a planned joint US-Russian military coordination cell in Syria until regime forces there allow aid into besieged cities.

US secretary of state John Kerry called Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and condemned “repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid”, a spokesman said.

A ceasefire was declared in Syria’s five-year-old civil war on Monday two days after Kerry and Lavrov signed a deal in Geneva to pressure both sides to hold their fire.

Under the pact, Russia was to restrain Bashar al-Assad’s regime whileWashington leans on the rebel groups opposing him, and both sides agree violence has reduced.

If the truce lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Russia and the US are to work together to target the Islamic State and Al-Nusra front. But some clashes have continued, and the United Nations has been unable to send supplies to starving civilians in areas like the besieged northern city of Aleppo.

Russia on Friday complained that only its ally, the Assad regime, is respecting the ceasefire, but nevertheless suggested that it be prolonged by a further 72 hours.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting and clashes between regime forces and rebels rocked the eastern edge of Syria’s capital on Friday, an AFP correspondent and military source said. “The Syrian army is blocking an attack by armed groups that tried to enter the capital’s east via Jobar... Leading to intense clashes and rocket fire,” a military source told AFP.

Source: http://www.asianage.com/international/us-ties-syria-aid-flow-joint-cell-russia-645