Sputnik - At last week�s Valdai discussion group conference in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that 700 civilians had been taken hostage in Syria's Deir-al Zor province after attacking a refugee camp in an area controlled by US-backed forces.




Apparently around�130 families had been captured, with�militants vowing to�execute 10 people every day if their demands are not met by�the Russian/Syrian side. The Russian President, who stated that US and European nationals had been amongst�the captured, expressed his surprise that the story had not been picked up�by the western media. The US meanwhile denies the validity of�the story.

Sputnik spoke to�Professor Tim Anderson from�the University of�Sydney for�some clarity as�to what is really going on�in Syria.

Sputnik: Which side are we to�believe when it comes to�this story?

Tim Anderson:�The area indicated by�the Russian President is an area controlled by�the US military.

The US and its proxies whether they were Daesh or the SDF did not allow the Syrian government to�liberate a lot of�that territory east of�the Euphrates when the Syrian government liberated Deir-ez-Zor about�this time last year.

So those people are said to�have been taken from�a refugee camp south of�Deir-ez-Zor to�a town called Hajin which is very close to�Al Bukamal down�in the south east corner of�Syria. That is area controlled by�the US and so it�s embarrassing for�them to�admit the operations of�Daesh in�that area.

Sputnik: That might explain why the story has not been picked up�by the western mainstream media do you think?

Tim Anderson:�Yes, because the western media is really looking for�permission throughout�this war from�the US government in�particular for�what they can and cannot say. It�s in�a very close relationship.
You see the same for�the Daesh attacks in�southern Syria on�the town of�As Suwayda some months ago � they still have some hostages from�that attack � they killed 200 people there and they had come from�an area of�the desert that was over�towards Al Tanf � which is an area also directly military occupied by�US forces.


They have attacked Syrian and Syrian allied forces which had gone near�that area. So effectively the US has created safe havens where terrorist groups, particularly Daesh, in�the south and south east are using to�hide in�and come back and carry out�raids still.

Sputnik: So President Putin has said there needs to�be much more cooperation between�the Russian side and the US coalition when it comes to�Syria. What would you say to�that?

Tim Anderson:�Well it�s a diplomatic game Russia is carrying out�to maintain the nice fiction that there�s not a real, genuine, strategic difference between�the Russian and US forces in�Syria.
The fact is the US is still using its presence to�divide Syria, to�try to�prevent the remaining areas from�being liberated by�the Syrian army and there are quite different objectives. Of course in�diplomatic language he�s trying to�use reason and appeal to�the agreements which have been reached at�the United Nations to�eliminate the terrorist groups in�particularly those allied to�Daesh or Al-Nusra.


And the US has gone along�with that verbally but�as I say they have deliberately set up�bases and imposed their own military to�forces which are supporting their proxy armies in�Syria which by�the way includes Daesh, as�despite their denials we know it�s very clear that they are close allies in�particular � Saudi Arabia has been financing Daesh from�the beginning.

Sputnik: Do you think we�re at�a stage now where regime change is finally off�the table for�the US is it always going to�be an end goal for�them?

Tim Anderson:�They would like�it but�I think they�ve realized that it�s not possible and indeed the Syrian government has made significant progress with�the support of�Iran, Russia and some others � Hezbollah for�example.
So they current game has shifted to�an attempt to�dismember Syria to�try to�prevent Damascus from�recovering its strength in�the north east of�Syria where there�s a stand off�at the moment.


Sputnik: Lieutenant General Savchenko says there are still problems with�the ceasefire being broken in�Idlib?

Tim Anderson:�That�s right, there�s very little progress.

There is some progress but�very little progress with�the agreement that Russia reached with�Turkey about�establishing secure zones so that Al-Quaeda groups couldn�t shell Latakia and Aleppo � they�ve been continuing to�do that and there�s been some extensions of�the schedule given to�Turkey to�try to�create some secure zones there.

But Syria hasn�t given up�on Idlib, and the problem has been that the US with�its allies like�Britain have threatened to�bomb the Syrians if they even attempt to�move into�Idlib. Even the pretext of�a false flag of�chemical weapons has not been relied on�at this stage. There are several indications that the US says that if the Syrians move on�Idlib they will come in�and bomb.
And of�course that is one of�the main reasons why there was this delay imposed on�the operation to�liberate Idlib because Syria and Russia feared that there was going to�be a much greater escalation with�the threats from�the NATO powers.


Views and opinions expressed in�this article are those of�Tim Anderson and do not necessarily reflect those of�Sputnik.