Ambassador Khalid invites Chinese media to observe rich Pakistan history, cultural heritage (Regional Times (Pakistan))

Jumblatt cables Erdogan, Yildirim denouncing Gaziantep bombing

“Democratic Gathering” Head, MP Walid Jumblatt, cabled on Sunday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Biennale Yildirim, condemning the terrorist bombing that hit Gaziantep in Turkey, while expressing his sincere condolences to th…

Putin confirms Syria cease-fire deal

ANKARA -President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Thursday a cease-fire agreement in Syria had been reached under guarantees from Russia and Turkey.

“Peace talks are ready to begin,” Putin was quoted as saying by the country’s official TASS news agency.

His remarks came in Moscow during a meeting with Russia’s foreign and defense ministers. Putin said three documents had been signed.

The first was the cease-fire deal between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups. The second was measures to monitor the cease-fire, and the third was the declaration of “readiness” to start peace talks on a settlement.

Putin said Russia, Iran, and Turkey’s Dec. 20 trilateral meeting in Moscow saw all three countries committing themselves to be guarantors of any peace process settlement in Syria.

The president described the agreement on Syria as “fragile” and said “a lot of work” had been done in collaboration with Turkish partners.

Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also confirmed that the cease-fire will come into force in a matter of hours, on Dec. 30 at 12 midnight local time (2200GMT Thursday).

Shoigu said the ministry had established a “hotline” to continue contact with Turkey on the cease-fire.

He said for the past two months the ministry has had talks with the leaders of Syrian opposition groups under Turkish mediation.

Shoigu said the seven “most influential” commanders of the opposition attended the talks. He added that the agreement covers about 62,000 armed groups which together control most of central and northern Syria.

Shoigu said “all” conditions for the cessation of hostilities between the Syrian government and opposition had been created.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry released a list of opposition groups that will join the cease-fire.

The groups were Faylaq al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, Suvar agi-Sham, Jaysh al-Mujahidin, Jaysh Idlib and Jabhat al-Shamiyah.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is considering inviting Egypt to the Syria negotiations, adding that Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi spoke on the phone Thursday.

Lavrov said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Jordan could also be invited.

He added that he hoped U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would also join the peace talks for “collective” cooperation.

Putin said on Dec. 23 that Russia, Turkey, and Iran had agreed to an earlier proposal to bring together representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has expressed his “readiness” to provide a platform for talks in Astana to solve the long-standing crisis.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests � which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings � with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to the UN.

Source: Anadolu Agency

US: More Pressure on Russia Needed to Halt Syrian Conflict

UNITED NATIONS � U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ratcheted up her rhetoric against Russia on Thursday, saying more pressure needs to be put on Moscow to stop the war in Syria.

“Many of you said we need to put pressure on the Syrian regime; that’s actually not the case. We need to put pressure on Russia,” Haley told her counterparts on the 15-nation Security Council.

The council was holding its monthly meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, where U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien told them that at least six hospitals and three schools have been bombed there this month, and a “noose has tightened” around besieged eastern Ghouta, where some 400,000 people have been cut off from U.N. aid convoys since October 2016.

“All eyes and all pressure now need to go to Russia, because they are the ones that could stop this if they wanted to,” Haley said.

The U.S. envoy said the regime of Bashar al-Assad has been emboldened by its continued protection from Moscow.

“Because Russia continues to cover for the Syrian regime, Russia continues to allow them to keep humanitarian aid from the people that need it, Russia continues to cover for a leader that uses chemical weapons against his own people, Russia continues to veto and Assad continues to do these things, because they know Russia will continue to cover for him,” Haley said.

“I will continue to press the Security Council to act, to do something regardless if the Russians continue to veto it, because it is our voice that needs to be heard,” she added.

Russia has used its veto eight times in the 6-year-long conflict to protect the Assad regime from sanctions and other international action.

Russian response

“The ongoing criticism of the Syrian government and the emotional calls to the country guarantors, including Russia, don’t help anything,” Russia’s acting ambassador Petr Illichev told council members. “We are carrying out our obligations in good faith; there are other important players who are not hurrying to meet us halfway.”

Russia, along with Iran and Turkey, led talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, that led to a cessation of hostilities in December that can be described as shaky at best. But the Russian envoy told council members that, “In Syria as a whole, the cessation of hostilities is holding.”

This despite a poison gas attack earlier this month and ongoing shelling, airstrikes and ground fighting in several parts of the country.

Israeli airstrikes

Earlier Thursday, the Russian government called on Israel and other countries to avoid any actions that may escalate tension in Syria, after Syrian officials accused Israel of conducting airstrikes against an arms supply hub near Damascus International Airport.

“All countries need to refrain from any kind of actions that lead to an increase in tension in this already restive region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

Peskov also said Syria’s sovereignty should be respected.

The arms hub is operated by the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Syrian rebel and regional intelligence sources said the strikes targeted weapons that were shipped from Iran on military and commercial cargo planes.

Throughout the Syrian war, which began in March 2011, Israel has made it clear it would not allow shipments of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah units fighting in Syria. Israeli forces have on multiple occasions used airstrikes or other attacks to stop such moves, with the military often declining to confirm it was responsible for the strikes.

Hezbollah and Israel fought each other in the 2006 Lebanon War.

Source: Voice of America