The United States and Russia have reached a cease-fire agreement intended to halt fighting in southwest Syria, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.
The agreement, if carried out, could allow anti-government rebels there to focus on fighting Islamic State.
Mr Tillerson’s announcement came as Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face talks at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
The wide-ranging ceasefire would take effect Sunday at noon (Damascus time) in Southwest Syria.
This agreement is significant as it suggests a larger agreement between Washington and Moscow on Syrian influence zones and the decision to ignore the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad is now seen as possible.
Mr Tillerson said the agreement, if it holds, may be a rolled out for other parts of the country. “This area in the south is our first show of success. We hope we can replicate that elsewhere,” he said.
Diplomatic sources in Washington told The National that Brett McGurk, the US Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, has been “instrumental in panning out the deal” and that “intricate details and areas of influence are discussed with the players involved.” It was reported last month that Mr McGurk and US Syria envoy Michael Ratney held secret talks with Russia in Jordan in May.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Tillerson announced: “The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance” that “would lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future”.
Today Mr Tillerson added, “We have a very clear picture of who will provide the security forces, but we have a few more details to work out,” he said. Those discussions should be finalized within a week. “The talks are very active and ongoing.”
Syria’s civil war has seen forces loyal to Assad and Iranian allies pitted against rebel forces seeking to impose a brutal Islamic rule.
Randa Slim, director of The Middle East Institute's Track II Dialogues initiative, which looks at facilitating policy and problem solving in the region, said Mr Tillerson’s statement and the ceasefire announcement “define the negotiation framework for US-Russia coordination in Syria.” Ms Slim believes that Russia would look to establish no-fly zones, ceasefire observer missions, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. For the US, the priority will be to “ensure that areas liberated from ISIS are not taken illegally by the Assad regime… and to prevent any future regime use of Chemical Weapons.”
The approach towards the situation in Syria seems to be more straight forward from the Trump administration, opines Nicholas Heras, a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
“The Trump team is much more candid and honest than the Obama administration about the need to have Russia bought into the framework that de-escalates the Syrian civil war” Mr. Heras said.
What would this plan would look like? Mr. Heras explained that “Syria is already partitioned into zones of control, and the American zone of control in eastern Syria is growing every day.”
Mr Heras added that he thought reinforcing this soft partition of zones and assigning control is implementable because Syria is not a cohesive state under one government.
The diplomatic sources in Washington said the American zone of influence would “stretch into the Jazeera region in Syria” which covers some of the border areas with Iraq, Raqqa, Tal Abyad and areas that are already controlled by Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the US.
The Jordan side of the border according to the ceasefire will take place along a line of contact agreed upon between Syrian government forces and associated troops on one side and rebels on the other. It is not known who would control the border with Israel, but a key goal for Tel Aviv is to drive out Iranian proxies from the bordering area. Jordan’s King Abdullah made a private visit to Washington last week where he met US Secretaries of State and Defense Tillerson and James Mattis among others.
Ms. Slim emphasized that “This is the only plan on the table right now that the US could live with and around which there is an emerging international and regional consensus.”
The plan does not concretely address the fate of Assad whom the US called on to step down in August of 2011.
Mr Tillerson said: “We see no long-term role for the Assad family or the Assad regime,”, while a US state department official said “regarding Assad, the United States remains committed to the Geneva process and supports a credible political process that can resolve the question of Syria’s future.”
“Ultimately, this process, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Assad’s status, the Syrian people should determine their country’s political future through a political process” the US official stressed.
Jordan and Israel were also involved in the negotiations. The two countries are critical U.S. allies who have voiced concerns over the heightened militarization activity on their border with Syria.
Mr Heras believes Iran remains a wild card in this plan and whether it challenges the US zone of influence or remains present through proxies by the Syrian-Israeli border. “Assad and Iran will try to target the local Syrian partner forces that are waging the Coalition's counter-ISIS campaign” but “agreement between the Americans and Russians can restrain both” the expert said.
For Ms. Slim, however, Iran’s role “all depends on how Tehran sees this plan affecting Assad's long-term survival and what costs it will incur as far as its relationship with Moscow is concerned if it were to act as a spoiler.”
“If his survival is secured and the costs are high, it will not spoil it,” she added.
How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
RIDE%20ON
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Larry%20Yang%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Jackie%20Chan%2C%20Liu%20Haocun%2C%20Kevin%20Guo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
