VOANEWS
The White House has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against using chemical weapons in an upcoming offensive against the last rebel-held enclave in Syria. The Assad government and its allies are expected to launch a massive bombardment of the northwestern Idlib province. The United Nations special envoy for Syria is making a last-ditch effort to prevent massive bloodshed and is urging all sides in the Syrian war to find a peaceful solution. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
According to international agencies, three presidents, with three completely different objectives, defined Friday the future of about three million Syrian citizens who live in the city of Idlib, located in the northwest of that country, and who are, at this moment, trying to flee desperate after a possible -inminent, according to the United States- chemical attack in order to expel the rebels and jihadists from their last stronghold in that country.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the establishment of a ceasefire in that province, and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, assured that the Syrian regime “has the right” to take control of the entire national territory. For his part, the Iranian leader, Hasan Rohani, is totally convinced that the fight against “terrorism” in Idlib “is inevitable”, but “should not make civilians suffer”.
Such statements, which were made during the tripartite summit that was held this Friday in Tehran, can be taken in two different ways. On the one hand, the summit could be understood as the first step towards a desired but very fragile stabilization of the conflict requested by Turkey, but on the other, it leaves open any possibility that Russia and Iran remain firm in their plans to support the president. of the Syrian regime Bashar al Asad.