Syrian army pushes to facilitate success of UN envoy's initiative: paper

DAMASCUS - A Syrian newspaper said Thursday that government troops are trying to achieve national reconciliation to help implement a UN envoy's initiative to "freeze battles" in the war-torn country.

Government troops have continued with their siege of areas held by rebels in the eastern part of Aleppo city to force the fighters to consider the initiative of Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy in Syria, al-Watan daily said.

The proposed "freeze," whereby warring parties would hold their ground, serves as a prelude to further pacification in other parts of the country.

The Syrian leadership said the plan was "worth studying" but demanded that the UN envoy secure the approval of influential regional players.

Al-Watan said the idea of freezing battles in Aleppo was accepted by rebels inside the city but not those on the outskirts,

who were still pushing to escalate the situation.

Meanwhile, Mistura has renewed his call to concentrate efforts on Aleppo, saying he was contacting all sides to advance his, the state news agency SANA reported, citing Western reports.