UN Syria envoy calls for truce in Aleppo as step to wider resolution of war

DAMASCUS, Syria – The United Nations envoy to Syria called Tuesday for a truce in the northern city of Aleppo as a possible step to a wider resolution of the country’s civil war, though activists cast doubt on the plan.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura spoke at a news conference in the capital, Damascus, as part of his three-day visit to Syria.

His public call for a cease-fire came a day after Syrian President Bashar Assad said the suggestion was “worth studying.”

Previously, pro-government Syrian media lashed out at de Mistura, accusing the envoy of overstepping his bounds for suggesting local truces.

The envoy called the situation urgent.

“Aleppo is not far from a possible collapse,” he said. A truce would be a “building block for a political process.”

Aleppo is the last major city where rebels hold large areas, but they are under attack from advancing government forces. The Islamic State group is trying to take nearby rebel-held communities and activists fear they will try advance on Aleppo.

Parts of rebel-held areas pulverized and abandoned after thousands were killed in government bombings, and rebels are divided into squabbling factions.

Many activists said the envoy’s efforts may be too late because of the damage done in three years of war. But Mohammed al-Shafi, an activist from Aleppo, said if the government agreed to a truce, residents would pressure rebels to follow suit.

“People in Aleppo are tired, everybody runs all day just to find bread. They only have food aid, donated baskets,” he said.

Aleppo’s rebels have so far not issued a unified statement on the U.N. envoy’s proposal. Only Tuesday did 14 rebel groups there announce a joint operations command, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Activist Ahmad Hamed also hoped a truce would be “the beginning of the end” of the conflict, though he said he feared it could allow government forces to regroup and tempt Islamic State fighters to barrel into Aleppo.

“Of course, the Islamic State won’t agree to a truce,” Hamed said.

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Hadid reported from Beirut.