US, Russia agree on Syria cease-fire, Alawi takes part in meeting

Munich: Russia and the US agreed on Friday during a six-hour long meeting on the cessation of hostilities ‘within a week’ in Syria to revitalise the peace negotiations and to stop the exodus of civilians from the country.
In the meeting, the Omani delegation was led by Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs.
The meeting was chaired by UN special envoy to Syria’s crisis, Steffan de Mistura, and European and Middle East foreign ministers were also present. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the cease-fire covers all parts of Syria and the results would be monitored with the actual condition on the ground.
The agreement would not apply to IS and Al Nusra Front, he added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Syrian government and the opposition have to take necessary steps as Russia and the US would supervise on the arrangements made the for cessation of hostilities. This truce represents a first step towards a more sustainable cease-fire, Lavrov added.
Meeting on security issues
Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs took part in the inaugural annual security meeting on Saturday.
Twenty presidents, 60 foreign and defence ministers and a number of officials representing more than 50 countries took part in the conference. The conference will address a number of issues mainly ways to confront terrorism, the situation in the Middle East and the Syrian refugees’ crisis among other issues.