Syria suggests ceasefire to end 'stalemate' - as it happened

Here's a roundup of today's developments on the crisis in Syria

Syria has submitted details of its chemical weapons stockpiles to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, the organisation told Reuters. "We have received part of the verification and we expect more," an OPCW spokesman said.

Syria deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil has tried to deny telling the Guardian that Syria will call for ceasefire at the planned Geneva 2 peace conference. The Guardian stands by its interview and has released an audio recording of Jamil making the remarks. 

Rival rebel groups fighting for control of the strategic town of Azaz have agreed a truce. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), which has links to al-Qaida, seized the northern town on Wednesday from the larger Western-backed Free Syrian Army. The two sides have agreed to exchange prisoners and hand back property.

Syria's main political opposition group the Syria National Coalition has condemned Isis accusing it of contradicting the principles of the revolution. It said it rejected the group's extremist ideology and atrocities against civilians. 

 Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani has put his government forward as a peace broker in the Syrian conflict. Writing in the Washington Post on the eve of his trip to the United Nations in New York, Rouhani said:

We must join hands to constructively work toward national dialogue, whether in Syria or Bahrain. We must create an atmosphere where peoples of the region can decide their own fates. As part of this, I announce my government’s readiness to help facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition. 

The Guardian has released a recording of Syria's deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil stating that Syria will call for a ceasefire at the planned Geneva 2 conference. He denies making the remark. 

You can listen to a clip of Jonathan Steele's interview here. 

Syria has submitted details of its chemical weapons stockpiles to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, the organisation told Reuters.

Syria is believed to possess around 1,000 tonnes of chemical toxins, and has agreed to destroy them under a joint Russian-U.S. proposal designed to avert a U.S. strike on Syria.

"We have received part of the verification and we expect more," an OPCW spokesman said.

A UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the details had been submitted, saying: "It's quite long ... and being translated."

The organisation's core members are due to vote - probably next week - on a plan aimed at fast-tracking the destruction of Syria's chemical stockpiles by mid-2014.

The plan has emerged from a a US threat to attack Syria and a burst of international diplomacy after a poison gas attack killed hundreds of civilians on the outskirts of Damascus last month. 

A OPCW meeting on eradicating Syria's chemical weapons planned for Sunday, has been postponed. 

Syria's deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil has appeared on Russia Today's Arabic channel to deny telling the Guardian that Syria would call for a ceasefire at the planned Geneva 2 peace conference (thanks to Ramil al-Lolah for spotting the interview). 

He pointed out that a date had yet to be set for the conference. 

He also accused the Guardian of failing to respond to a complaint about the interview. The response of Jonathan Steele who stands by his report of the interview, was published almost two hours ago.

The Guardian is planning to publish an audio recording of its interview with Jamil. In it he is asked whether the Syrian government will propose a ceasefire at Geneva. 

Speaking through a translator, he replied:

Of course. The immediate ceasefire. First of all putting an end to external intervention, having a ceasefire and the launching of the peaceful, political process in a way that the Syrian people could enjoy self-determination without international intervention in a democratic way, and this process could take place under internal observation and international observation as well.

Protesters in the northern Syrian town of Kafranbel have warned Americans not to trust TV interviews with Bashar al-Assad. 

This week's Friday placard comes after Assad told Fox news that Syria would dispose of its chemical weapons but that it may take a year to complete. 

Syrian activists see Jamil's ceasefire comments as a sign of government weakness. Here's a sample:

Writing before Jamil's party tried to playdown his remarks, Sima Diab, an activist who works with Syrian refugees, suggested he would get in trouble for his remarks. 

Kristyan Benedict, campaigns manager at Amnesty UK, pointed out how hard it would to negotiation a nationwide truce - a point amplified in Martin Chulov's article.

The party of Syria's deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, has denied that he told the Guardian that the Assad government is calling for a ceasefire. 

The Guardian's Jonathan Steele in Damascus is standing by his account of his interview with Jamil.

In a letter to Guardian, a spokesman for the People-Want Party, claimed Jamil was talking in his capacity as leader of the party, not as a member of the Assad government when discussing the possible peace negotiations.

The spokesman admitted that Jamil said a ceasefire should be priority for the conference, but denied that this amounted to a government call for a ceasefire as the headline on the report implied. 

Steele [see below] has produced a more detailed transcript of the comments showing the context in which Jamil made the ceasefire remarks, via a translator. The translator confirmed that the comments were made in Jamil's capacity as deputy prime minister not as party leader. Steele pointed out that the interview was conducted in a government building, was arranged by a government information officer, and that only later in the interview did Jamil speak as leader of the People-Want party. 

The party also denied that Jamil used the term "civil war" to describe the conflict, as the Guardian reported in a version of the story first published. An online version of the story has been amended to remove any reference to the phrase. 

Here's the letter from the People-Want Party

Dear Sirs,

In reference to the interview made on September 19th by your esteemed correspondent Jonathan Steele with the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of the People-want Party, and member of the Presidium of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation, Dr. Qadri Jamil, published on your website on the same day, we would like to illustrate the following points:

1- Contrary to what is being mentioned in your first-version title, opening paragraph or elsewhere, never during the interview Dr. Jamil used the term "Civil War" to describe what is taking place in our country,

2- When asked about the "proposals for Geneva (2)", the question did not include any reference whatsoever to "the Syrian government" or "President Bashar al-Assad's government" as stated in the article, and hence Dr. Jamil was speaking in his capacity as a Secretary of the People-want Party and a leading figure of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation, both being components of the Syrian opposition working inside Syria to realize true radical and deep changes in Syria, and not as a spokesman of the current Syrian coalition government, that has enough spokespersons from the majority party.

3- And even when answering the same question, Dr. Jamil said clearly enough that the priorities were "halting external intervention, having a ceasefire (i.e., stopping violence), and launching a peaceful political process". He never said that "The Syrian government is to call for a ceasefire"!

4- Contrary to what has been mentioned in the article, Dr. Jamil never said that for certain parts he was speaking as a member of the government and for others as a leader of his political party.

Hoping that you are going to link and publish this letter with the same interview asap, in order to avoid any misunderstanding and to keep your heritage of objectivity and high professionalism, please do accept our best regards.

The Press Office

The People-want Party

This is Steele's response: 

My access to Qadri Jamil was organised by the Syrian Government' s Ministry of Information.

He received me in his office in the main government building in Damascus where the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister also have their offices.

My tape-recorded question on Geneva was “Let's move on to the Geneva conference. What is the main priority for you in attending the Geneva conference? Will you propose a ceasefire immediately? Is that an idea?” Dr Jamil's reply, as translated by his interpreter, was: “Of course. The immediate ceasefire. First of all putting an end to external intervention, having a ceasefire and the launching of the peaceful, political process in a way that the Syrian people could enjoy self-determination without international intervention in a democratic way, and this process could take place under internal observation and international observation as well”.

I then asked: “Will you be going to Geneva? Who will your delegation be?”

He replied: “Until now the size of delegations has not been decided upon yet”.

About twenty minutes later just before the interview ended the deputy prime minister explained why his party joined the government last year.

His interpreter said: “Now, please note, Dr Qadri is speaking as a political figure, not a governmental figure”.

Back in the hotel, before sending the article to London, I rang the interpreter to double-check whether the interview was with him as Deputy Prime Minister or as a party leader. The interpreter said that only in the last section about the government of national unity was he speaking as a party leader.

The Guardian is planning to release an audio version of Jamil's comments later today. 

Rival rebel groups fighting for control of the strategic town of Azaz have agreed a truce, according to the BBC's Paul Wood.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), which has links to al-Qaida, seized the northern town on Wednesday from the larger Western-backed Free Syrian Army. Wood said the two sides have agreed to exchange prisoners and hand back property.

Analyst Pieter Van Ostaeyen tweets what he claims is photo of the text of the agreement.

Meanwhile, the main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition has condemned Isis accusing it of disregarding the lives of Syrians and having an agenda counter to the Syrian revolution.

It cited atrocities committed by the group, including attacks on medical staff, and its link to foreign organisations. It claimed the rebels were committed to religious freedom and toleration.

The global watchdog set up to monitor an international ban on chemical weapons is to meet this weekend to discuss how to dispose of Syria's stockpile.

The executive board of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is to meet on Sunday, it announced. 

Syria has agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, as part of a Russian-US deal agreed earlier this month in Geneva.

Under the deal the OPCW will oversee an "accelerate programme to verify the complete destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, production facilities and other relevant capabilities".

Coincidence?

It's worth noting that that Iran and Syria are now using the same kind of language to describe the state of the conflict in Syria.

In his interview with the Guardian, Syria's deputy prime minster, Qadri Jamil, said:

Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side. This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.

In his op-ed piece for the Washington Post, Iran's president Hassan Rouhani also invoked game theory to point out the futility of the conflict.

A zero-sum, Cold War mentality leads to everyone’s loss.

Sadly, unilateralism often continues to overshadow constructive approaches. Security is pursued at the expense of the insecurity of others, with disastrous consequences. More than a decade and two wars after 9/11, al-Qaeda and other militant extremists continue to wreak havoc. Syria, a jewel of civilization, has become the scene of heartbreaking violence, including chemical weapons attacks, which we stronglycondemn. In Iraq, 10 years after the American-led invasion, dozens still lose their lives to violence every day. Afghanistan endures similar, endemic bloodshed.

The unilateral approach, which glorifies brute force and breeds violence, is clearly incapable of solving issues we all face, such as terrorism and extremism.

Welcome to Middle East Live.

We are resuming live coverage of events in Syria to follow the aftermath of the Assad regime's admission that the conflict has reached a stalemate and that it may be willing to enter a ceasefire. Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

  The Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate and President Bashar al-Assad's government will call for a ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva on the state's future, the country's deputy prime minister has said in an interview with the Guardian. Speaking to Jonathan Steele in Damascus Qadri Jamil said: .

Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side. This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.

Asked what proposals his government would make if the postponed conference in Geneva went ahead, he said:

An end to external intervention, a ceasefire and the launching of a peaceful political process in a way that the Syrian people can enjoy self-determination without outside intervention and in a democratic way.

Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani has put his government forward as a peace broker in the Syrian conflict. Writing in the Washington Post on the eve of his trip to the United Nations in New York, Rouhani said:

We must join hands to constructively work toward national dialogue, whether in Syria or Bahrain. We must create an atmosphere where peoples of the region can decide their own fates. As part of this, I announce my government’s readiness to help facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition. 

Opposition forces in Syria have splintered into dozens of often competing and increasing militant groups, making it unclear who would represents the rebel side in any negotiations, warns Martin Chulov.

Two and a half years into the war, the common ground staked out at the start is now a bitterly contested field of competing interests that seriously imperil the opposition's reason for taking up arms in the first place.

More than 1,000 units now make up the anti-Assad forces, and while many can still unite behind the stated common cause of ousting the president, many others show no such discipline or even a will to work towards a pluralistic, democratic society if, or when, the Syrian leader falls.

Vladimir Putin said he could not be sure that Assad would fulfil the US-Russian plan to identify and destroy his chemical weapons stocks, but "all the signs" suggested the Syrian regime was serious. "Will we be able to accomplish it all? I cannot be 100% sure about it," said Putin, speaking at a discussion forum with western politicians and Russia experts in the north-west of the country. "But everything we have seen so far in recent days gives us confidence that this will happen … I hope so."

US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on the UN Security Council to pass the "strongest possible" resolution to ensure Syria complies with the chemical weapons deal. He said: "The Security Council must be prepared to act next week. It is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out in the strongest possible terms about the importance of enforceable action to rid the world of Syria's chemical weapons."

French President Francois Hollande suggested for the first time that Paris could arm Syrian rebels in a "controlled framework," given that they were now caught between the Syrian government on one side and radical Islamists on the other. Noting that Russia was supplying arms to the Syrian government, Hollande, said France could provide arms to rebels, "but we will do it in a broader context with a number of countries and in a framework that can be controlled because we cannot accept that weapons could fall into the hands of jihadists that we have fought against here."

 Libya