company:international syria support group

Kerry: Critics of Obama administration’s Syria policy ’completely screwed up’
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/kerry-critics-obama-syria-policy-erdogan-coup-army.html

Laura Rozen reports, “The US proposal for deeper US-Russian coordination against Jabhat al-Nusra is controversial within the US administration, with some Pentagon, intelligence and State Department officials expressing doubt the Russians could be trusted to restrain the Syrian regime or not to use the intelligence to target US-backed rebels, given their track record of doing so in the past months.”

In a joint press conference with Lavrov, Kerry described critics of his initiative as “completely screwed up.” He reminded the “dissent” crowd that Jabhat al-Nusra, just like the Islamic State (IS), is designated as a terrorist organization under numerous UN Security Council resolutions. He said that “Nusra is plotting against countries in the world” and that “what happened in Nice last night could just as well have come from Nusra.” Kerry refused to characterize Jabhat al-Nusra as “opposition” and expressed confidence in the “non-terrorist organization opposition, the legitimate opposition, the opposition we have supported.”

Kerry noted that, in addition to the Syrian government, Jabhat al-Nusra and its allies have also violated the cessation of hostilities, as this column has reported — a fact often missing in press accounts. The secretary said opposition forces pairing up with Jabhat al-Nusra because of a shared commitment to fight President Bashar al-Assad’s forces “will not excuse it in our eyes. We saw what happened when people said the same thing about [IS] for a period of time — oh, don’t worry, they’re just a force against Assad, and down the road we can take them on. Well, they became more than just a force. And so I think that it is important for the United States, Russia, the entire coalition of ISSG [International Syria Support Group] to stand up against terrorism, and that is what we intend to continue to do.” Kerry made clear that the United States maintains that Syria can’t have peace while Assad is there,” and that Washington and Moscow disagree on this point.

Syrian Ceasefire: Five Things You Should Know — Medium
▻https://medium.com/@ChathamHouse/syrian-ceasefire-five-things-you-should-know-90cd49ab82b8

1. This is an attempt by international powers to impose a peace on Syria, after the failure of UN efforts to negotiate a peace
The International Syria Support Group does not include either the Assad government or the Syrian opposition. Until they can be convinced to implement it, the agreement remains progress on paper only. We have seen agreement in the international community on these issues before — in UN Security Resolution 2254 — but these terms were simply never implemented.

Riyadh, Rumeilan, and Damascus: All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences - Syria in Crisis - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
▻http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62239

It’s conference time in the Syrian opposition. All of a sudden, three rival meetings have kicked off, all claiming to represent the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. One is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while the other two take place inside Syria—the first in Rumeilan, a town in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, and the second in the Syrian capital of Damascus, under the watchful eyes of Assad’s security apparatus.

This rush of political meetings is a direct consequence of the agreement struck in Vienna on November 14, when a group of states calling themselves the International Syria Support Group issued a joint communiqué laying out their vision of how to resolve the conflict in Syria. The group included all the major players in Syria, such as the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Their communiqué called for negotiations between Assad and the opposition as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1. This very early date was apparently backed by the United States and intended to gain momentum and add a sense of urgency to the process.

Security Council ‘Unequivocally’ Condemns ISIL Terrorist Attacks, Unanimously Adopting Text that Determines Extremist Group Poses ‘Unprecedented’ Threat | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases
▻http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12132.doc.htm

#nosra et similaires clairement nommés aux cotés de #ISIS

The full text of resolution 2249 (2015) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming its resolutions 1267 (1999), 1368 (2001), 1373 (2001), 1618 (2005), 1624 (2005), 2083 (2012), 2129 (2013), 2133 (2014), 2161 (2014), 2170 (2014), 2178 (2014), 2195 (2014), 2199 (2015) and 2214 (2015), and its relevant presidential statements,

[...]

“ Recalling that the Al-#Nusrah Front (ANF) and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with #Al-Qaida also constitute a threat to international peace and security ,

[...]

“5. Calls upon Member States that have the capacity to do so to take all necessary measures, in compliance with international law, in particular with the United Nations Charter, as well as international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law, on the territory under the control of ISIL also known as Da’esh, in Syria and Iraq, to redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by ISIL also known as Da’esh as well as ANF, and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with Al-Qaida, and other terrorist groups , as designated by the United Nations Security Council, and as may further be agreed by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and endorsed by the UN Security Council, pursuant to the statement of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) of 14 November, and to eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria;

[...]

Syrian peace process is taking wings – Indian Punchline - By M K Bhadrakumar– November 15, 2015
▻http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2015/11/15/syrian-peace-process-is-taking-wings

The terrorist strikes in Paris on Friday doubtless administered a shock therapy to the International Syria Support Group [ISSG] meeting in Vienna. The communiqué issued after the meeting on Saturday covered more ground than one would have expected. The document candidly admits that “a unanimous sense of urgency” prevailed during the “constructive dialogue” in Vienna with a view to “accelerate an end” to the Syrian conflict.

The UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Syria Steffan de Mistura, who is an accomplished diplomat, actually used the expression “critical mass” to sum up the outcome of Sunday’s discussions. A plan of action has been drawn up by the ISSG with a definite timeline. Most important, the United Nations Security Council is getting ready to monitor the action plan. Principally, the plan envisages that:

– A peace process involving the Syrian government and opposition representatives will formally commence on 1st January 2016;
– Simultaneously, there will be a nation-wide ceasefire in Syria, which will be monitored by a UN-endorsed ceasefire monitoring mission;
– Meanwhile, confidence-building measures will be taken, especially to ensure “expeditious humanitarian access”;
– On a parallel track, Jordan has been tasked with drawing up a list of irreconcilable extremist groups in addition to the Islamic State and Nusra Front;
– The Syrian-led peace process will establish by end-June 2016 a “credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance” (read transition) and “set a schedule and process” for drafting a new constitution;
– Free and fair elections as per the new constitution will be held under UN supervision “within 18 months” in which “all Syrians, including the diaspora” will be eligible to participate.

Once again, the fate of President Bashar Al-Assad has been sidestepped. Most western analysts tend to see it as a no-go area that diplomats fear to tread. But is it necessarily so? The point is, an overriding principle has now been accepted, namely, it will be entirely up to the Syrian people to accept or reject the new leadership.
(...)
Also, it has been decided to induct the Organization of Islamic Conference into the ISSG. Taken together, this shift opens the way for Islamic parties (such as Muslim Brotherhood) to participate in the future elections under the new constitution. To be sure, this signifies a major concession to Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. (...)