24 October 2012
Last updated at 17:20 GMT
Lakhdar Brahimi: "If this initiative works, we hope to build on it and aim for a lasting and solid ceasefire"
Syria's
government and most opposition groups have agreed to a ceasefire during
this weekend's Eid al-Adha holiday, the UN's peace envoy has said.
Lakhdar Brahimi said he hoped to use the lull in fighting to "discuss a longer and more effective ceasefire".
However, Syria's foreign ministry said the truce had not been agreed, and it would announce a decision on Thursday.
Rebels were split over the ceasefire plan, with one jihadist group saying it would not observe it.
The al-Nusra Front, a shadowy group that says it has carried
out several high-profile bomb attacks, said it would not be tricked into
playing "filthy games".
The main armed rebel group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said any ceasefire observed by the government would be reciprocated.
But the group's Gen Mustafa al-Sheikh added: "It is
impossible that the regime will implement the truce, even if it says it
will."
Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice, commemorates the
willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as proof of
obedience to God.
In other developments:
- Syrian state TV says a car bomb has exploded in Damascus, killing six people and injuring 20 others
- BBC reporters in Damascus say warplanes have been flying over the capital and firing on some areas
- Opposition forces and the government blame each other for the
killing of at least 16 civilians in Douma, a north-western suburb of the
capital
Government divisions
Mr Brahimi has travelled across the Middle East over the past
two weeks to promote his plan to use a ceasefire to kickstart a
political process.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Jon Leyne
BBC Middle East correspondent, Cairo
Lakhdar Brahimi's surprise announcement of a Syria ceasefire raises as many questions as it answers.
As he made clear, while he believes the Syrian government has
agreed to the ceasefire, only some of the rebel groups are on board.
There are so many different rebel groups it may be impossible to win
unanimous agreement from them. It could also be true that the Syrian
government actually has more interest in a ceasefire, while it remains
in power.
There is also the question of when the ceasefire would come
into force - some Arab countries begin the Eid al-Adha holiday on
Thursday; others, including Syria, mark it from Friday - and how long
it would last. Nevertheless, this does seem to be a rare glimmer of good
news in a conflict which has been getting more intense by the day.
"There is agreement from the
Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid," he told reporters in
the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
"Other factions in Syria that we were able to contact - heads
of fighting groups - most of them also agree on the principle of the
ceasefire."
Mr Brahimi later briefed the UN Security Council, and they announced that they supported his plan.
Shortly after his announcement, the Syrian foreign ministry
said the government was still studying the proposal and would announce
its "final position" on Thursday.
But Russian diplomats said they had "indications" that Damascus would approve the plan.
Some analysts say divisions among the rebels over the
ceasefire are just one part of the problem because there are also
differences of opinion within the government.
While politicians might approve a ceasefire, the army and
security officials are viewed by some as more likely to object and
continue to push for a military solution.
Lebanon concern
The leader of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition
coalition, told the Associated Press he had little hope the truce would
take hold.
The BBC's Tim Whewell reports from Marea, where the threat of helicopters distracts funeral-goers
"This regime, we don't trust it, because it is saying something and doing something else on the ground," said Abdelbaset Sayda.
Earlier this week the UN's head of peacekeeping operations,
Herve Ladsous, revealed he had started to make plans to send an observer
force to Syria should a lasting ceasefire be agreed.
A ceasefire negotiated in April by Mr Brahimi's predecessor,
Kofi Annan, broke down within days despite the presence of unarmed UN
monitors.
The short-lived truce was followed by a dramatic escalation in the conflict.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that a
power vacuum in neighbouring Lebanon could be exploited by Syria and
create "even greater instability".
Lebanon's government was plunged into crisis after a senior
security official was killed on Friday in a bomb attack that was blamed
on Syria.
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