The Syria-based terror group, DWN says, citing a Reuters report, has asked for a “two-three week truce,” and demanded that all attacks on the terrorist group be stopped. 

The group has tabled the measure in the hopes that the break in hostilities will give them time to regroup, preventing their complete destruction, the paper says.

For their part, the United States and Saudi Arabia have long-supported the terror group with arms and finances, while politicians have attempted to put al-Nusra in a more favorable light by counting them in the ranks of the so-called ‘moderate opposition’, the newspaper suggests. 

And “while the al-Nusra Front has officially rejected al-Qaeda’s goals, they have done so only in order to participate in the carve-up of Syria,” DWN adds. In the meantime, “a UN report has accused al-Nusra of crimes against humanity.”

“Russian airstrikes have put the al-Nusra Front, as well as Daesh, under considerable pressure, recently surrounding [the former] in Aleppo. The Syrian Army, which is supported by the Russians, has been advancing undeterred and does not want to engage in negotiations with the terrorists.”

“The precarious situation,” DWN says, “has forced the terrorist group to try an original move – to bring about a ceasefire in the UN. This was reported by Reuters, citing anonymous sources ‘close to the peace negotiations’.”

These sources, the newspaper notes, may have received their information from the CIA. The intelligence agency’s cooperation with al-Nusra Front has served to annoy both the Pentagon and the White House, with President Barack Obama previously referring to this strategy as a failure.

Ultimately, the newspaper suggests, “the offer is of course just a trap for the Russians: The militants desire to regroup in order to prevent their utter destruction…because the Russians and Syrians are proceeding with the battle for Syria with the utmost severity.”

“The Russians,” DWN notes, “will not agree to the proposal. Unlike the West, the [Syrian-Russian-Iranian] alliance is resolute in its fight with Daesh, and are even officially recognized by the UN. [However,] Russia itself suffered a diplomatic defeat on Friday: The UN Security Council postponed a decision on a resolution against a Turkish invasion of Syria.”