Bashar Assad ‘reassures’ Vladimir Putin over commitment to truce

The Syrian president has assured Russia’s Vladimir Putin of Damascus’ commitment to a Russia-US proposed truce, even as a spokesman for a Saudi-backed alliance of Syrian opposition and rebel factions expressed “major concerns” about the ceasefire, due to begin this week.

Salem Al Meslet, spokesman for the alliance known as the High Negotiations Committee, said his group is worried that Russia and Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces would continue to strike at mainstream rebels under the pretext of hitting “terrorist groups” during the truce.

The agreement, engineered by the US and Russia, is set to take effect at midnight tomorrow local time. It does not cover the Islamic State group, Syria’s al-Qaeda branch known as the Nusra Front, or any other militia designated as a terrorist group by the UN Security Council.