Damascus said on Tuesday it was prepared to discuss a truce proposal by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Damascus said on Tuesday it was prepared to discuss a truce proposal by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

The Syrian foreign ministry said Tuesday that it looked forward to talks with Brahimi on his proposal for a ceasefire for the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday beginning at the end of October, which he has been promoting on a regional tour.

But spokesman Jihad Maqdisi stressed that the armed groups and their backers would also need to be involved.
He said in a statement the Syrian side was waiting for the arrival of Brahimi to learn about the results of his recent visits to a number of countries, including countries that have influence over armed groups.

He voiced hope that Brahimi will bring from these countries something to lead to the success of any constructive initiative, noting that Syria has already shown commitment to Arab and international initiatives that were ultimately foiled by armed groups and the countries that influence them, state news agency, SANA, reported.

"In order to succeed in any initiative, it takes two sides," Maqdisi said in answer to a question from AFP.

"The Syrian side is interested in exploring this option and we are looking forward to talking to Mr Brahimi to see what is the position of other influential countries that he talked to in his tour," he said.

"Will they pressure the armed groups that they host and finance and arm in order to abide by such a ceasefire?," Makdissi said.

OPPOSITION "WELCOMES" TRUCE

For its part, the exiled opposition said Tuesday it would welcome any ceasefire but that the ball was in the “government's court”.

The so-called Syrian National Council said it would expect the “Free Syrian Army” to reciprocate any halt to the violence but that it expected the government to act first.
"We would welcome any halt to the killings but we think the appeal needs to be addressed first to the Syrian regime, which has not stopped bombarding Syrian towns and villages," SNC leader Abdel Basset Sayda said.

He claimed that militants "are only acting in self-defense, so it is normal that they would halt hostilities when the war machine does so."