DAMASCUS: The Syrian government is interested in exploring a cease-fire in the 19-month conflict as proposed by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi said yesterday.

But he stressed that for a halt to the violence, the rebels and their backers would need to be involved too. “In order to succeed in any initiative, it takes two sides,” Maqdisi said in answer to a question from AFP.

“The Syrian side is interested in exploring this option and we are looking forward to talking to Brahimi to see what is the position of other influential countries that he talked to in his tour,” he said.

“Will they pressure the armed groups that they host and finance and arm in order to abide by such a cease-fire?” Brahimi, joint envoy of the Arab League and the United Nations, was in Cairo on Tuesday on the latest leg of a regional tour that has already taken him to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, staunch backers of the opposition, and Iran, Syria’s closest ally. He has proposed a truce for the four-day Eid Al-Adha Muslim holiday at the end of the month to pave the way for a political process.

Brahimi’s office said that the envoy had appealed for Iranian help to broker the truce.

“He reiterated the call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a cease-fire and a halt to the flow of arms to both sides. A cease-fire, he said, would help create an environment that would allow a political process to develop,” his office said.