UN envoy calls for Syria 'free zones'

The UN envoy tasked with resolving the Syrian civil war has proposed establishing 'freeze zones' to halt the more than three-and-a-half years of fighting in the country.

 

In his first briefing to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Steffan de Mistura presented an "action plan" that involves implementing zones in which fighting would stop, in an effort to bring in humanitarian aid and to build the political process at a local level.

 

"Daesh [Islamic State] is to be stopped...we must see whether we can implement some incremental freeze zones, in order to make sure that in those areas, we will be able to build first a political process at the local level and then eventually the national level. Give hope to the local population and avoid the fight which is going on at the moment,” de Mistura said in his speech.

 

He told reporters after the briefing that the city of Aleppo was the good first candidate for hosting such a zone according to his plan.

 

"[Aleppo] is a place that has an iconic value and at the same time is a symbol on its own which we hope could become an opportunity of showing that somewhere in Syria... some improvement can take place," he said.

 

A focal point of the ongoing civil war, Syria’s second city and commercial centre remains besieged from two sides by the Assad government and Islamic State (IS) militants, with the Western-backed opposition faction Free Syrian Army controlling some key neighbourhoods.

 

Explaining why he preferred not to call the planned arrangement a "cease-fire," the envoy said: "We are talking about something different which should not be imposed by either of the two sides, it should be something that freezes the conflict in that area and gives them opportunity for some type of humanitarian improvement."

 

De Mistura, who was appointed to his post in July, recently visited several countries including Assad allies Iran and Russia.

 

The conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011, has claimed more than 150,000 lives, and nearly 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside the country, according to the UN.

 

While the UN may be discussing the possibility of free zones, senior US administration officials have suggest that US policy in Syria may need to be tweaked as the Syrian government has become a catalyst in the rise of terror groups.

 

The New York Times on Thursday reported that in a leaked memo earlier this month, Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel warned the White House that "the administration’s Syria policy was in danger of unravelling" as it failed to clarify its intentions toward the Assad government. 

 

This comes a day after National Security Advisor Susan Rice said that the solution to the Syrian conflict must include Assad’s removal.

 

At a press briefing Thursday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the defence chief did not deny the Times report.

 

"Because we are a significant element of this issue, we owe the president and we owe the National Security Council our best thinking on this. And it has to be honest and it has to be direct," Hagel said. 

 

He noted that the government has benefited from the US-led operations on IS targets in Syria. 

 

Assad has been barrel bombing Syrian opposition while IS has been struck by US airstrikes.

 

Hagel added, however, that the coalition has a long-term strategy that will stabilise Syria and the Middle East via "inclusive governments".

 

The defence chief was asked if the US should be more aggressive against Assad. "We look at every option," he said. "We are building and continue to build an effective coalition in the Middle East to deal with these issues."

 

He acknowledged however that stability in Syria would require all the countries in the region to work together to find a solution. Among the coalition members is Turkey, which has put more emphasis on the removal of the Assad government, while Washington has prioritised dealing with IS.

 

The US and coalition forces have conducted hundreds of strikes on IS targets at mounting costs but results are difficult to measure. 

 

Hagel also confirmed during the briefing that some Guantanamo Bay detainees released by the US have returned to join the fight in the Middle East on the side of IS and other militant groups.