Syria Considers U.N. Ceasefire, U.S. Awaits Proposal

U.N. Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is currently in Beirut seeking a truce over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha to “allow a political process to develop. Syrian government spokesman Jihad al-Makdisi reportedly told the BBC that the government would consider an initiative to end the the country’s ongoing crisis, but stressed that both sides must be involved. The opposition said it would reciprocate any government ceasefire.” The spokesman said Assad’s government would consider any truce that aimed to “stabilize the situation in Syria and end the crisis, whether on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, independence day or any other anniversary.”

Yesterday, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, “we’re not going to comment on putative pieces of a prospective future Brahimi plan until Mr. Brahimi has had a chance to complete his rounds and formally present something to us and to other members of the Security Council. She added, “any new plan needs to be analyzed in terms of whether the conditions in Syria allow it to be implemented properly.”

Meanwhile, Christiane Amanpour compares the nuances of the Obama and Romney policy toward Syria, saying that Republicans are more supportive of arming rebels, but she asks, “The only question now is whether there will really be a change in the U.S. position after this election.” The Associated Press reports, “Most of the rebels fighting government forces in the city of Aleppo fit a specific mold: They’re poor, religiously conservative and usually come from the underdeveloped countryside nearby,” and James Foley writes of Syrian rebels losing civilian support in Aleppo.