http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/world/middleeast/aleppo-syria-staffan-de-mistura.html 2016-10-06 18:29:13 U.N. Syria Envoy Offers to Escort Rebel Fighters From Aleppo The envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who made the offer as part of a new truce proposal, voiced despair over the relentless bombing of the city. === GENEVA — The top United Nations diplomat for the Syria conflict proposed a new truce on Thursday, in hopes of averting what he called the destruction of rebel-held east Aleppo by Russian and Syrian forces. He offered to personally escort the jihadist fighters in the area to safety if the bombing is halted. The proposal by the diplomat, Staffan de Mistura, reflected his despair over the relentless bombardment by the Syrian military and its Russian allies in the past few weeks, following the collapse of a cease-fire negotiated by But Mr. de Mistura’s proposal also was seen as part of a possible new diplomatic effort to press the Russians over the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Aleppo, the divided Syrian city that was once the country’s commercial capital and is now a sprawling urban kill zone. Roughly 275,000 people in the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo have been subjected to indiscriminate aerial bombing that has killed hundreds, including many children. Outside access to that part of the city has been cut off. Russia, which has been supporting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad for the past year with airstrikes and other assistance, has said it is not responsible for the killing of civilians. In Aleppo, the Russians have said, their targets are the radical jihadist fighters of the Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda-linked force also known as the Levant Victory Front. Those fighters are regarded as enemies by the United States and its allies as well as by the Syrian government and Russia. Secretary of State John Kerry suspended talks last week with his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, over the continued bombing of Aleppo. France and Britain have likened the killing and destruction in Aleppo to historical atrocities like the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War and the mass killings in Srebrenica and Sarajevo in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Mr. de Mistura warned on Thursday that east Aleppo “may be totally destroyed” by Christmas. He proposed that Syria and Russia immediately stop bombing there if the Nusra fighters promise to leave. Addressing his plea to those fighters, he said that if they depart with their dignity and their weapons, “I personally am ready physically to accompany you.” Mr. de Mistura’s offer came as Mr. Lavrov was meeting in Moscow with the French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault. France has proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would revive the cease-fire in Syria. Mr. Lavrov told reporters that Russia was interested in studying Mr. de Mistura’s proposal, but made no commitment to it.