A regime rages in southern Syria after rebels say talks with Russia fail

BEIRUT : The Syrian regime and its Russian ally resumed their air strikes in the south of the country on Wednesday after the rebels "failed" negotiations over a government takeover.

Bashar al-Assad aims to recapture the southern region as the cradle of the uprising against him

Russia backs a two-week offensive led by Assad forces against rebels in the provinces Daraa and Quneitra, but it is simultaneously negotiating with rebel cities for capitulations negotiated as part of a carrot and stick strategy that Russia and the regime have used in the past to take over parts of rebel forces.

More than 30 cities have already agreed to regain control of the regime, and talks in recent days have focused on remaining rebel territory in the western countryside of Daraa province and the southern half of the capital. Provincial

On Wednesday afternoon, the rebels met with a Russian delegation to make their decision on the Moscow proposal to seize power in the rest of the South

. About 90 minutes after the start of the meeting, "Negotiations with the Russian enemy in Busra al-Sham have failed, having insisted on the surrender of heavy weapons," he said in an online statement. 19659002] "No Threatened Negotiations", added later on Twitter, demanding talks "under the auspices of the United Nations".

& nbsp; Final Answer & # 39;

Spokesman Ibrahim Jabbawi said the talks had given "no results" because Moscow had insisted that the rebels hand over their heavy weapons in one go.

"The session is over After the end of the talks, Russian planes and planes resumed strikes in several parts of the province for the first time in four days, Britain A Syrian observer of the Observatory of Human Rights said:

A source close to the discussions indicated that the rebels would be ready to hand over their heavy weapons in several phases.

The meeting followed a session by one o'clock on Tuesday, as the army withdraws from reconquered cities and grants fighters and civilians who do not want to live under the regime's control a safe passage to a rebel-held territory elsewhere

Moscow flatly rejected the terms and responded with a counterproposal.] He told the negotiators that the population transfers were not on the table in the south, although they accepted it. in other regions like Ghout East and Aleppo

Russia insisted that the army return to its pre-2011 position. The police and the local police would take over the cities in coordination with the Russian military police.

The source said before Wednesday's meeting that the rebels were supposed to give their "final answer".

"Today will be the last round – either the rebels accept these conditions, or military operations resume," the source said.

Moscow used difficult deadlines in the past with the rebels but sometimes extended them.

This mix of military pressure and negotiated surrender brought control of the Daraa province regime to about 60%, double what it had in its operations on June 19th.