FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Date Set for New Astana Meeting for Syria Peace, as Situation in Idlib Deteriorates
Nov. 19, 2018 (EIRNS)—Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov told reporters today that the next meeting of the Astana format on Syria will be held in Astana on Nov. 28-29, TASS reported. He said that the meeting is planned
“in the traditional format, with the participation of delegations of the countries-guarantors [Russia, Iran, Turkey], the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Syrian armed opposition, observers are invited to this meeting—the UN and Jordan.”
He added that “The participants plan to discuss the current situation in Syria, in particular in Idlib, creating conditions for the return of refugees and displaced people, and post-conflict reconstruction.”
Meanwhile, the situation in Idlib continues to deteriorate further, particularly around the southern periphery of the buffer zone set up under the Russian-Turkish agreement. Al Masdar News reported this morning that Russia has resumed reconnaissance flights over jihadi positions in the buffer zone in preparation, it says, for a Syrian army assault on the southeastern part of the zone. The report includes video of an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft flying over northern Hama. Al Masdar reported yesterday another jihadi attack on Syrian forces in the same area of northern Hama, which was repelled by the Syrian side. Syrian forces are also beefing up their positions in the west Aleppo suburbs, in order to counter militant attacks by elements of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.
