With an Explosion and a Blockade, a Syrian Pact Is in Limbo

The New York Times reports that a fragile deal to evacuate the last remaining opposition fighters from Homs’s besieged Old City “hit a snag on Thursday when rebels in Aleppo province refused to allow all of a humanitarian convoy to enter two villages they had blockaded, as called for under a pact between the government and the rebels, opposition activists and a pro-government television channel reported.

“The problems came as insurgents in the northern city of Aleppo set off an enormous explosion that leveled the historic Carlton Hotel, facing the city’s ancient citadel, where government troops had been billeted. Clouds of dust and debris towered above the citadel’s ramparts, underscoring the insurgents’ vow to continue the fight and their ability to carry out damaging attacks despite retreating from Homs.”

Saudis Call to Postpone Arab League’s Syria Talks

AFP reports that Saudi Arabia, a major financial backer of the Syrian opposition, has called for the Arab League to postpone its next talks on Syria.

“The meeting of foreign ministers was originally called for Monday by Riyadh, which backs rebels in the conflict, to discuss steps that need to be taken to deal with the Syrian tragedy. But the Saudis have now indefinitely postponed what was originally billed as an emergency gathering that they were going to host without saying why, and no new date has been set for it.

“Western and Gulf nations opposed to the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad are due to hold their latest meeting in London on May 15 to discuss boosting support for the rebels.”

Ingredients of Nerve Gas Still in Syria, Official Says

The New York Times also reports that the U.N. says ingredients needed to make sarin, a lethal nerve agent, are still in Syria: the last batch of chemicals waiting to be shipped out from the country’s western coast and destroyed.

“The material is stored in an airfield controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s military forces not far from Damascus, and was transferred there from another site about 19 miles away that has since been overrun by insurgents in the civil war,” said U.N. official Sigrid Kaag, who is overseeing the process.

“It is safe and secure,” she told the Times. But “you’ve got the main ingredients, the precursors to produce sarin.” Kaag said the remaining arsenal, about 8 percent of Syria’s original total cache, cannot “be safely extracted yet because the roads to the location have not been secured by government forces. ‘There is a lot of fighting taking place,’ she said. ‘It’s not a situation where you would want a chemical weapons convoy passing through.’”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

Reuters: Deal Breakdown Leaves 270 Rebels Trapped in Homs

WSJ: U.S. Sanctions Russian Bank Over Syria Conflict

Al Jazeera: British Fighters in Syria Face Passport Ban

Spiegel: Assad’s New Bomb: Syria Regime Has Not Abandoned Chemical Weapons