Syria is willing to consider Brahimi's cease-fire proposal

Syrian Government is willing to consider the cease-fire during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which has been proposed by United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman said, according to SANA news.

It's worth mentioning that Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) marks the annual hajj pilgrimage, starting Oct. 26 and lasting four days.

Earlier, Brahimi had asked the Iranian authorities, who are the closest ally of the minority Alawite-dominated regime of Bashar al-Assad, to help mediate an immediate cease-fire, which would help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop.

The Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Maqdisi, stressed that for a halt to the violence, the rebels and their backers would need to be involved, too.

Maqdisi told reporters that the Syrian side was waiting for the arrival of Brahimi, to know the results of his recent visits to a number of countries, including countries that have influence over armed groups such Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which have been the greatest support for the Syrian opposition.

"The Syrian side is interested in exploring this option and we are looking forward to talking to Mr. Brahimi to see what is the position of other influential countries that he talked to in his tour," Maqdisi said.

On the other hand, the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, Abdel Basset Seida, said: "We would welcome any halt to the killings, but we think the appeal needs to be addressed first to the Syrian regime, which has not stopped bombarding Syrian towns and villages."

Seida stressed that the Free Syrian Army is only acting in self-defense, so it is normal that they would halt hostilities when the regime forces stop killing.

In related news, Free Syrian fighters shot down a MiG-23 fighter jet in the northern province of Aleppo, where fierce battles are taking place, and captured it's two pilots.

According to Turkey's Andalou news, the war jet was shot down in al-Taana area by basic anti-aircraft weapons, the Damascus News Network said.

Al Arabiya news said that Bassam al-Dada, the political adviser to the Free Syrian Army, told Andalou that one of the pilots, a captain, resembles Assad.

The Syrian regime authorities have made no comment on the incident so far.

There has been no independent confirmation. If confirmed, this will be the 40th aircraft shot down by Free Syrian fighters, according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

Opinion:

As I previously expected, the Syrian regime will also predict this proposal, but why didn't the regime approve, before 10 days, the call from UN chief Ban Ki-moon to unilaterally declare a cease-fire. What has changed during this period and made the regime simply agree on Brahimi's initiative?

Does the Syrian regime aim to prove to the international community that there is influence from Iran on Syria?

Of course, in all cases, the regime will not stop the violence for one minute and will not respect any international agreement. Moreover, the regime will also claim that the Free Syrian Army is the one that broke the truce.

On the other hand, I knew the Syrian opposition will approve this proposal too, despite the lack of conviction in any calm with the Syrian regime because their only goal is to totally eliminate the regime of Assad. Therefore, the approval of the opposition is "tactical approval."

So far it is not yet understood what the mechanism of the cease-fire be and who will be responsible for monitoring it. Therefore until the mechanism is determined and studied, we will be already done with Eid al-Adha!

The Syrian regime claimed yesterday that, during a meeting for Western states' ambassador and after they tackled the Syrian issue, one of the ambassadors asked whether his other colleagues think that Assad will be toppled. No one raised his hand.

Pro-regime TV did not mention the source of this information and the place of the meeting. It was enough for them to say that this is reliable information.

What is happening on the ground is the continuation of violence and murder, and at the same time the Free Syrian Army is targeting the Syrian Air Force warplanes.

The Free Syrian Army again requested the entry of reporters from foreign agencies. They also promised to protect them, so as to prove the success of their operations against the regime. The Free Syrian Army wants these reporters to assist them in publishing the crimes of the regime to the whole world.

For your information, there are reporters for Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya TV, documenting everything happening, with videos. Perhaps this urges the international community to take a serious decision after making sure that what is happening in Syria is not less than the massacres of Stalin and Hitler against humanity.

Sources:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/16/244135.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9613032/Syria-Assad-regime-ready-to-explore-four-day-truce.html