Removal of civilians from an area of insurgency is a long-time counterinsurgency measure.

I hope that a peaceful resolution is found soon.

Might need a safe passage from us.

Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a general amnesty to rebels willing to lay down their arms on Thursday, state media said, but few, if any, were expected to accept the offer, which was widely seen as a ruse.

At about the same time, Russia, Syria’s staunchest ally, announced the creation of safe corridors to allow civilians to leave besieged areas of Aleppo city.

“Whoever bore arms… and had escaped from justice… is pardoned from all punishment when they surrender themselves and their weapons to authorities… within three months,” read the amnesty decree, whose text was published by Syrian state news service SANA.

The edict also offered pardons for anyone ensuring the release of kidnapped and missing people. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, thousands have been kidnapped and detained, mostly by forces loyal to Assad but also by the opposition pitted against him.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-amnesty-offer-20160728-snap-story.html

8:35 p.m.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has posted what she calls a "chilling letter" from Syria's U.N. envoy saying the army has informed civilians in embattled eastern Aleppo that it has secured safe passage out for those who want to leave.

The letter from Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari to the U.N. Security Council said the Syrian government has also "allocated temporary accommodation" for those who leave and is keen "to provide them with their livelihood needs."

American envoy Samantha Power tweeted @AmbassadorPower that the "chilling letter ... warns Syrians to leave E Aleppo & entrust lives to gov that's bombed & starved them."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-28-13-26-19

"The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has posted what she calls a "chilling letter" from Syria's U.N. envoy saying the army has informed civilians in embattled eastern Aleppo that it has secured safe passage out for those who want to leave."

The Syrian government was bad for encircling thousands of civilians in Aleppo, now it's bad for letting those civilians escape the fighting?

Ok... -roll eyes-

WHAT IS WRONG with our US ambassador to the UN? How is allowing safe passage of civilians out of a combat zone now "chilling"?

Seriously, I can understand spin, but this is crazy talk.

GENEVA, July 28. /TASS/. Syrian President Bashar Assad has sent an invitation to UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy who plans to visit Damascus on July 30, Russian Ambassador to UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin said on Thursday.

"According to the information received by the Russian permanent representative, Bashar Assad sent an invitation on July 24 to UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, who plans to visit Damascus on July 30 to discuss ways of possible political settlement of the crisis in the country," Borodavkin said.

"President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar Assad is ready to consider proposals on normalizing the situation in the country put forward by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura," he noted.

"Only political transition process, with participation of moderate opposition in reforming state institutions, will allow to achieve ceasefire and settle the inter-Syrian conflict," he added.

http://tass.ru/en/politics/891288

9:15 p.m.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft is backing a U.N. call for 48-hour weekly humanitarian truces to allow desperately needed aid into embattled Aleppo but says "the Russian idea of corridors is an interesting alternative proposal."

"If it is a genuine humanitarian proposal, then clearly it would be accompanied by an end to the bombing campaign and by Russian support for other aspects of this comprehensive approach to the humanitarian situation in Aleppo," he told reporters in New York.

Using the corridors to allow aid into Aleppo "would be welcome," Rycroft said.

"But clearly, the U.N. and the rest of us cannot be complicit in anything else - for instance, any form of emptying of Aleppo, or preparing for an onslaught in Aleppo, or indeed any continuation of this medieval siege of Aleppo which is going on," he said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-28-14-30-55

"But clearly, the U.N. and the rest of us cannot be complicit in anything else - for instance, any form of emptying of Aleppo, or preparing for an onslaught in Aleppo, or indeed any continuation of this medieval siege of Aleppo which is going on," he said.

Um, so letting the civilians out, "the emptying of Aleppo" is still bad?

Essentially the real complaint here is that the Syrian government is simply winning the battle for Aleppo in the civil war.
-roll eyes-

Perhaps all outside powers involved should simply insist that all sides HOLD PEACE TALKS NOW?

Oh, I am being silly.

for instance, any form of emptying of Aleppo, or preparing for an onslaught in Aleppo, or indeed any continuation of this medieval siege of Aleppo which is going on," he said

After meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Laos on Tuesday, United States Secretary of State John Kerry stated that he hoped to announce early next month the details of a planned military cooperation and intelligence-sharing with Russia on Syria. The proposals would have the two countries share intelligence to coordinate air strikes against the Al Qaida-affiliated Jabhat Al Nusra. It would also bar the Syrian regime’s air force from targeting areas held by “moderate” rebel groups. Kerry’s comments came just a day after Syrian regime forces succeeded in laying siege to rebel-held districts of Aleppo.

Backed by Lebanese Hezbollah, the Syrian regime launched an offensive to capture a strip of land that brought the vital Castillo Road under control. Seizure of this vantage point gives Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s forces the ability to cut off the road that links the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo from Turkey. Forces aligned with the Al Assad regime have also been able to capture the strategically located town of Mallah, just outside the ring road, which encircles Aleppo. The Al Assad regime has hence succeeded in completely bringing Syria’s second largest city under siege.

The regime has so far been very successful in exploiting the frailty of the ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow last February and which lacks any mechanism for accountability. Until such time when an understanding between Russia and the US will sideline the Syrian Air Force, Al Assad’s forces and his allies will do their best to force the armed opposition in Aleppo, at least, into total submission. Furthermore, in the event that Russia and the US come to an agreement to coordinate their military effort in Syria, the very existence of the coalition, that forms the armed Syrian opposition, will be called into question, as any deal is likely to target parts of its constituents.

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/kerry-lavrov-understanding-could-spell-the-end-for-syrian-opposition-1.1869974

Syrian President Bashar Assad secretly visited Russian President Valdimar Putin in Moscow, just days before the latter met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June, Lebanese newspaper Al-Joumhouria reported Thursday.

Putin and Assad discussed the crisis in Syria as well as the possibility of a comprehensive agreement with Israel, including the Golan Heights, Al-Joumhouria reported, however the Kremlin denied the report.

The Lebanese paper also reported that the American government was involved in the secret meeting.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will reportedly be part of the process on an overall regional plan when it is presented to him during an upcoming visit to Moscow on August 9.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Assad-and-Putin-held-secret-meeting-discussed-Israel-462659