Update | Aleppo evacuation ‘suspended – not finished’ as diplomats scramble to salvage deal
Diplomats sought to salvage the evacuation of eastern Aleppo after it stalled Friday amid recriminations by both sides in Syria’s civil war, raising fears the cease-fire could collapse with thousands still desperate to escape the rebel enclave.
The Aleppo evacuation was suspended after a report of shooting at a crossing point into the enclave. The Syrian government pulled out its buses that since Thursday had been ferrying out people from the ancient city that has suffered under intense bombardment, fierce battles and a prolonged siege.
“The carnage in Syria remains a gaping hole in the global conscience,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Aleppo is now a synonym for hell.”
President Barack Obama on Friday defended the US approach toward the civil war in Syria, saying he understood the desire for action to end the conflict but it would have been impossible to do “on the cheap” without a full US military intervention.
“Unless we were all in and willing to take over Syria, we were going to have problems,” Obama told a news conference, noting that it would have required “putting large numbers of US troops on the ground, uninvited, without any international law mandate.”
The halt also appeared to be linked to a separate deal to remove thousands of people from the government-held Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya that are under siege by the rebels. The Syrian government says those evacuations and the one in eastern Aleppo must be done simultaneously, but the rebels say there’s no connection.
The suspension by Syria left thousands of people trapped and uncertain of their fate.
The deal was put on hold shortly after President Vladimir Putin said Russia was “actively negotiating” with the opposition and seeking a nationwide ceasefire.
The delicate operation to bring the last civilians and rebels out of east Aleppo began on Thursday and had continued through the night, with thousands of people leaving in buses and ambulances. But it was abruptly suspended yesterday, with the government accusing rebels of violating the terms of the deal brokered by its key ally Russia and opposition supporter Turkey.
