US urges Syrian opposition to abide by ceasefire: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator from New York, to get his take on the week-long ceasefire agreement in Syria.  

Here is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: Given the early violations, how likely is it for the truce to hold out?

Al-Omari: At this point, everybody’s hoping that it will hold. Previously, when there was a similar agreement, it did hold after a few violations here and there. It seems that the United States has made it clear to the Syrian opposition that it’s important that they comply with this agreement and it seems that Russia and the Syrian government will also comply.

However, there are enemies of this agreement and I believe that there are elements who do not want to have a ceasefire and they’re happy with the situation as is, in the hope that somehow they will resolve this militarily. [As] we have seen, this is almost impossible in this divided country. So peace should be given a chance and I believe this is a good effort on the part of the Obama administration and the Russian government.

Press TV: US Secretary of State John Kerry says this may be the last chance to save Syria. Does that mean there will be no more political efforts to end the war? And if the truce fails to hold, what are we going to expect?

Al-Omari: I believe he also made it clear that the other choice is to divide Syria, because if this country is so divided for six years and there is fighting on so many different fronts for so many years, then there is no point in keeping this country together; because the factions are not able to come together. So, I believe his assessment is realistic. The next thing to do is to keep people apart from each other if they refuse to reach some kind of peace agreement after so many years of fighting.

Also, I believe it’s probably the last chance for him as secretary of state to seriously tackle the Syrian issue before the American election and the arrival of a new administration. But let’s hope that peace be given a chance for the sake of all the Syrians who have suffered tremendously over the last six years or so.

Press TV: How much will this truce help the Syrian army destroy the terrorists not included in the agreement?

Al-Omari: There is a consensus that ISIS [Daesh] should be defeated, and so should al-Nusra [recently rebranded as Fateh al-Sham] and all these radical elements who under no circumstances will agree to any political process of any type anyway. They want to have a religious government. They want to have a Khilafah [Caliphate]. They have made it clear and they are not shy about it [that] they are not interested in any kind of agreement or settlement.

The world understands that; the Syrian government understands that; the Russians and the Americans as well as the moderate Syrian opposition understands that these elements which came from outside Syria, for the most part, are not interested in a peaceful Syria. They believe that Syria is a platform to invade other countries and to establish their religious government. So, I believe everybody has become aware that there is no peace to be made with ISIS and al-Nusra and al-Qaeda. I believe everybody has matured and let’s hope that peace will prevail this time around.

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