Moscow Endorses de Mistura’s Withdrawal of Jabhat al-Nusra from East Aleppo

PRESS RELEASE

Moscow Endorses de Mistura’s Withdrawal of Jabhat al-Nusra from East Aleppo

Oct. 6, 2016 (EIRNS)—The Russian President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, also Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdaov, today endorsed UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s idea of the withdrawal of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group from East Aleppo, TASS reported.

"It’s high time this is done. We’ll see if the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura’s idea is met with positive response.... He puts forward his ideas, his suggestions. His main goal is to establish an inclusive and sustained intra-Syrian dialogue under the auspices of the UN,"

Bogdanov added,

Earlier today, de Mistura had suggested that consultations be held on Jabhat al-Nusra’s withdrawal of militants from East Aleppo.

"The UN special envoy believes this could help end hostilities in this part of the city, so that civilians could get access to humanitarian aid. According to de Mistura, about 900 Jabhat al-Nusra militants are active in East Aleppo,"

the Tass report quoted him.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who arrived in Moscow today, held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Tass said the Syrian authorities have given consent to the opening of the European Union’s Humanitarian Office in Damascus.