SyriaPartition of Syria could be “Plan B” if cease-fire, peace negotiations fail: Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry said he would support a partition of Syria – what he called “Plan B” – if the U.S.-Russian sponsored ceasefire, scheduled to start in the next few days, fails to materialize. Partition would also be an option, Kerry said, if a genuine shift to a transitional government does not take place in the next few months.

“It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

U.S. News & World Report reports that that Kerry did not advocate partition as a solution which would end the country’s civil war, and declined to offer any specifics of a Plan B. He did say, however, that it would be wrong to assume that President Barack Obama would not consider or support further action if the cease fire fails or if Assad refused to move toward a political solution.

Kerry conceded that with the help of Russia, a coalition of Shi’a forces may capture the city of Aleppo, but he highlighted the fact that Assad forces have found it hard to retain territory in the five-year civil war.

Both sides in the war — the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad and Syrian opposition, which is represented by the High Negotiating Council — have said they will, under certain conditions, abide by the ceasefire.

Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin, in a phone call, agreed to the outline of the ceasefire agreement – an agreement which specifically excludes military operations against Islamic State, al-Nusra Front, and other Jihadist terrorist groups.

Observers note that the ceasefire is unlikely to hold because of the many groups involved, and because of the way in which terrorist groups are at times coordinating their activities with legitimate opposition forces.

Kerry told lawmakers that partition could form part of an eventual solution, saying “this can get a lot uglier and Russia has to be sitting there evaluating that too. It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if it is much longer.” Kerry’s statement was the first time a senior American official publicly discussed the option of partitioning Syria, although experts have noted that Russia, aware of the fact that it would be impossible for Assad to regain control of the whole of Syria, has conducted its military operations in Syria with an eye to creating an Assad-controlled Alawite enclave in Syria’s north-west.

“Assad himself is going to have to make some real decisions about the formation of a transitional government process that is real … there are certainly plan B options being considered.”

Kerry said that in the next three months it would become clear whether Assad was willing to compromise, insisting all sides wanted a secular, not sectarian, Syria in which all minorities are protected and the people have the right to choose their leader and future. Kerry insisted that Assad could not remain leader because he was not acceptable to those who have fought him over the past four years.

Kerry also hinted that a solution in Syria was needed because Putin was using the refugee crisis to undermine European unity. He said: “Europe is deeply threatened by what is happening. They are talking about different border measures that might be taken. I think it is imperative that America be prepared to help Europe as much as possible.”