German police arrest two Algerians allegedly linked to IS
German police have arrested two Algerians suspected of having links to the IS group, AFP reports.
Police are hunting for two more suspects after raids on several sites including refugee shelters where some of the suspects were living.
The four "from the jihadist scene are under investigation over suspicions that they are planning a serious act threatening the security of the state," Berlin police said.
The alleged involvement of Algerian nationals in any IS plot as well as a link to refugee shelters is expected to add fuel to a raging debate over the 1.1 million asylum seekers that Germany took in last year.
Kremlin regrets suspension of Syria talks, but 'no one expected it to be easy'
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Moscow regrets the suspension of the Syria talks in Geneva.
"But no one expected that everything would be easy and fast," Peskov added.
"Hardly anyone was expecting immediately results from the first round [of talks]...that would be short-sighted," Peskov told reporters this morning.
"We hope that in the near future there will be some sort of clarity over how the talks will proceed. Of course, obviously, progress will be difficult. We hope that this break will be followed by the next round of this really very difficult talks."
Lavrov, Kerry agree break in Syria talks should be as short as possible: Ministry
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov have "agreed to make necessary efforts so that the break [in the Syria talks] should be as short as possible," the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
Lavrov, Lerry confirm plans for Syria meeting in Munich on Feb. 11: Ministry
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have confirmed plans for a Feb. 11 meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Munich during a phone call between the two this morning, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Foreign Ministry website.
From our news desk:
U.S., France Charge Russia, Syria With 'Torpedoing' Peace Talks
The United States and France have charged Russia and the Syrian regime with stymieing peace negotiations with an unrelenting campaign to retake opposition-held territory even during the talks.
Throughout two days of fitful negotiations in Geneva on February 1 and 2, Syrian ground forces backed by Russian air strikes were waging an intense campaign to retake rebel-held territory around the strategic city of Aleppo in Syria's north, and on February 3 they succeeded in cutting off the rebels' supply line from Turkey.
The campaign, undeterred by the talks, was cited as the reason that the largest opposition coalition refused to fully join the negotiations, and "military activities" were also cited by United Nations Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura as a principle reason for suspending the negotiations on February 3.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused the Syrian government and its allies of "torpedoing" the peace talks and said "neither [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad's regime nor his allies clearly want to contribute in good faith" to the negotiations.
"We condemn the Syrian regime's brutal offensive with support from Russia to surround and suffocate Aleppo and its hundreds of thousands of residents," he said.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the Russian air strikes around Aleppo have almost exclusively targeted opposition groups represented at the peace talks rather than Islamic State or Al-Nusra militants that both sides are fighting, and thus were partly responsible for forcing a suspension of the peace talks.
The air strikes have prompted reports of more civilian casualties, displacement of Syrian citizens, and the obstruction of humanitarian aid shipments, he said.
"It is difficult in the extreme to see how strikes against civilian targets contribute in any way to the peace process now being explored," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late on February 3 released a statement saying the Russian air strikes and continued attacks by Syrian government forces signaled their intention to pursue a military rather than a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
Kerry called on Russia and Syria to halt their bombardment of opposition-held areas, especially Aleppo, and end sieges of civilians, as required by a UN resolution, to allow the resumption of the peace negotiations.
"It is past time for them to meet existing obligations and restore the international community's confidence in their intentions of supporting a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis," Kerry said.
While UN envoy de Mistura did not specifically cite the fighting around Aleppo, a senior aide told Reuters that he suspended the negotiations until February 25 "because the organization did not want to be associated with the Russian escalation in Syria, which risks undermining the talks completely."
"The stepped up air strikes gain the government ground, but also aim at humiliating the opposition on the ground and in Geneva," the aide said.
Russia and Syria denied causing what is being billed as a temporary break-up of the negotiations but which could prove to be their dissolution.
The head of the Syrian government delegation in Geneva, Bashar Ja'afari, blamed the break-up on "a failure of everybody except the government of the Syrian Arab Republic."
He said opposition groups were preparing to walk away from the talks because they were losing the fight on the ground, and the UN moved to suspend the talks to cover up that fact.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov blamed opposition groups for demanding an end to the fighting and the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged towns as "preconditions" to joining the talks.
"Their attempts to frustrate the negotiating process under an excuse that Russia continues its military operation in Syria are absolutely unacceptable," Gatilov said, insisting that Russia was bombing only "terrorists."
"We have repeatedly said that antiterrorism efforts are a matter of top priority for us and for the Syrian authorities," he said.
Gatilov added that when the negotiations resume, they should include opposition groups that were excluded previously, such as the Syrian Kurds, who hold large swathes of Syrian territory in the north.
Opposition groups said they would not return to the negotiations until the fighting stopped and humanitarian aid was delivered to starving residents of besieged towns.
"We are waiting for the United States to stop leading from the back, and the Russians...to stop adding fuel to the fire," opposition spokeswoman Farah al-Atassi said.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, and TASS
Kerry says Russian FM Lavrov agrees need to discuss Syria ceasefire: Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have agreed on the need to discuss how to implement a cease fire in Syria during a phone call between the two this morning.
Speaking at the start of a Syria donor conference in London, Kerry said that he had spoken to Lavrov.
"I had a conversation this morning with Foreign Minister Lavrov. We discussed, and he agreed that we need to discuss, how to implement the ceasefire and also how to get (humanitarian) access by both parties," Kerry told reporters.
Russian military advisor killed in Syria not involved in ground ops: Kremlin spox
A Russian military advisor killed in Syria did not participate in any ground operations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, Radio Svoboda reports.
Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Feb. 3 that on Feb. 1 a Russian military advisor had been killed in a mortar attack by IS militants on a military garrison in Syria.
Peskov said that the Russian military advisors are only training their Syrian counterparts in the use of technology supplied to Syria under existing contracts.
Peskov added that the Kremlin could not yet name the Russian military advisor who was killed, since "this issue has its own considerations."
Syrian government forces enter besieged Shi'ite villages in Aleppo
Syrian government forces and allied loyalist fighters entered two Shi'ite villages today after advancing in an offensive around Aleppo city.
The villages had been besieged by rebels including from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, since 2012. The government has sought to reach them for a long time.
Lebanese Hizbullah TV station Al Manar broadcast footage of Syrian government troops entering the villages amid crowds of residents chanting pro-government slogans.