Moallem: Aleppo proposal a response to Kerry's call for local cease-fires
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid Moallem said he proposed a plan for ending military operations in Aleppo last week in response to US Secretary of State John Kerry's appeal for a cease-fire there.
![SYRIA-CRISIS/CONFERENCE Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem listens to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (R) as they wait for lunch during a break in the Geneva-2 peace talks in Montreux January 22, 2014. Syria's government and opposition, meeting for the first time, angrily spelled out their mutual hostility on Wednesday at a U.N. peace conference where world powers also offered sharply divergent views on forcing out Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX17PZ](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2014/01/RTX17PZJ.jpg/RTX17PZJ.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=SvQk7zZO)
MONTREUX, Switzerland — Walid Moallem, Syria’s minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, said his proposal last week to halt military operations in Aleppo was in direct response to an appeal from US Secretary of State John Kerry for a “localized cease-fire” in Aleppo.
“I presented a plan for ending the military and security operation in Aleppo city, and I still wait for the response from the American side,” Moallem said in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor.