Syria accepts ceasefire during Eid holiday

CAIRO - The Syrian government accepted a ceasefire during the Eid al-Adha holidays, a proposal put forward by Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League (AL) joint special representative to Syria, AL chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Wednesday during a meeting with Brahimi in Cairo.

"The Syrian authorities will issue a statement on the ceasefire Thursday," Brahimi said.

Brahimi also said that he contacted many fighting groups in Syria, and most of them accepted the ceasefire.

"If the ceasefire initiative could succeed, other measures would be built on it and the ceasefire would be implemented on a wider scale and within a complete political process," Brahimi added.

AL Secretary-General al-Arabi held a meeting Wednesday morning with Brahimi and Jimmy Carter, former US president and head of The Elders international group. The meeting, held at the AL headquarters, focused on the latest developments in the Syrian crisis.