Syria willing to suspend Aleppo air strikes for six weeks -U.N

United Nations: The United Nations mediator on Syria told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the government was willing to suspend its aerial bombardment of the northern city of Aleppo to allow for a local ceasefire to be piloted, diplomats said. 

Staffan de Mistura told the council he would travel to Syria to discuss it further and gave no indication of when such a suspension might start, said diplomats attending the closed door meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

De Mistura, who has been working since October on his plan to negotiate "local freezes" that would start with Aleppo, told the 15-member council that he had a long meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to the country.

Syria`s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja`afari was not immediately available for comment. 

Aleppo is Syria`s second city and is at the forefront of clashes between pro-government forces and a range of insurgents, including Islamist brigades, al Qaeda`s hardline Syria wing Nusra Front and Western-backed units.

The Syrian army, backed by allied militia, has captured several villages near Aleppo in battles aimed at encircling the northern city and cutting off insurgent supply lines, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

More than 210,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which will enter its fifth year next month. Peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 degenerated into an armed insurgency following a fierce security crackdown.