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Monday, February 22, 2016

US and Russia agree to implement ceasefire in Syria on Saturday

[syria glass]Reuters On February 19, an important deadline in Syria's Civil War was missed.  A week prior, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), a group of countries with interests in the outcome of the Syria conflict that includes the US, and Russia, announced that a "CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES" would begin within one week. On Monday, the US-Russian plan calling for a cessation of hostilities in Syria is set to begin on Feb. 27. The ceasefire will exclude Islamic State and al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front militants, two Western diplomatic sources told Reuters. Secretary of State John Kerry continues to broker the deal and spoke of the ceasefire in Syria on Feb. 19. "Working out modalities for a cessation of hostilities in a situation like Syria is a highly technical and detailed process; and that's why our teams are still at it," Kerry said Friday, according to Reuters. "We want this process to be sustainable, and should all participants prove willing to really sit down and work this out, we can get to a cessation of hostilities." The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed a report by the Al Jazeera television network, which also reported that the draft calls on Syrian parties to agree to the cessation of hostilities by midday on Feb. 26. One of the sources said this was accurate, but the second was unable to confirm it.  To date, Syria's Civil War, which began in 2011, has killed a staggering 470,000 people, according to a Syrian Center for Policy Research report. _(Tom Miles in Geneva, Arshad Mohammed in Washington and Yara Bayoumy in Dubai; Editing by Eric Walsh)_ NOW WATCH: Watch this heartbreaking eyewitness account of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece


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