Kerry raises possibility of US approving strikes by Assad
The United States and Russia could approve Syrian government airstrikes as part of a new nationwide cease-fire, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. It's the closest any American official has come to suggesting indirect US cooperation with President Bashar Assad since the civil war started five years ago.
Kerry said Assad's forces aren't supposed to bomb Syria's opposition any longer because of the truce that began at sundown Monday. But he said the government could continue going after al-Qaida-linked militants in certain, unspecified areas.
If calm holds after seven days, the US and Russia would then cooperate on how to jointly combat the al-Qaida linked group formerly called the Nusra Front and now known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. But the two powers also could approve Syrian combat missions against the group, he said.
