2nd LD Writethru: Cessation of hostilities in Syria is holding except for some incidents: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said here on Monday that the cessation of hostilities reached by the Syrian government and opposition forces was basically holding.

"As of now, I can tell you that, by and large, the cessation of hostilities is holding, even though we have experienced some incidents," Ban told reporters during a press conference.

His comment was a response to a question related to the latest open letter by the Syrian opposition saying that from the onset of the truce a large number of violations had been committed by the Syrian regime and its allies in several parts of Syria.

"During the last five years, we have never had this kind of cessation of hostilities. Now we see, by and large, the ceasefire holding, so we have to continue at least two weeks so that we can really make people have a moment to deliver humanitarian assistance and also, prepare groundwork for political dialogue," Ban said.

On Monday morning, the UN chief was briefed by Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and met with members of the ceasefire task force set up by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG).

"It is my sincere hope that with this cessation of hostilities continuing, first of all, we can continue to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to many people, at least 400,000 people who are living in besieged areas," Ban noted.

According to the Secretary-General, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council had shown unity of purpose by unanimously supporting this cessation of hostilities through their unanimous adoption of the Security Council resolution last weekend.

"I am urging the parties to abide by this cessation of hostilities. If they cannot keep this even two weeks, then how can they say that they are responsible for humanity?"

Ban also urged the parties to keep their promises so that de Mistura would be able to resume the suspended Syrian peace talks on March 7 in Geneva.

"The first phase of these talks will last for three weeks and then we will reassess the situation together with the Syrian parties in order to make sure that they are seriously engaged in what they are supposed to do," said de Mistura in a statement late Friday night.

The UN-led talks, aimed at brokering a political solution between Syrian warring factions, namely the Syrian government and opposition forces, were halted on Feb. 3 after parties failed to see eye to eye on a number of issues.

According to UN figures, 110,000 people in besieged areas in Syria have been provided with vital humanitarian aid since talks were put on hold three weeks ago.

Since war in Syria broke out in March 2011, the crisis has claimed more than 250,000 lives and displaced millions, the UN estimated. Endit