U.N. envoy, Syria rebels haggle over Aleppo truce

U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura met Monday with Syrian opposition members to discuss his plan to “freeze” fighting in the country’s war-ravaged second city Aleppo, his spokeswoman said, according to AFP.

Also, Israel said it would not allow “sophisticated weapons” to fall into the hands of its enemies, after claims from Syria that Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes near Damascus.

De Mistura’s spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP the talks in southern Turkey “lasted for eight hours with representatives from the main armed and non-armed groups.”

“We met with them separately in Gaziantep,” in southern Turkey, Touma said, adding that the U.N. delegation was four-strong, including de Mistura.

The U.N. envoy first unveiled his plan for a cease-fire in Aleppo in October, touting it as a way for desperately needed aid to reach the ruined former economic hub.

Syria’s government has said it would “study” the proposal.

Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Monday that the government wanted the cease-fire to be limited to Aleppo city, while rebels want it to extend to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey.