Kerry issues warning over holding Syria together if cease-fire not implemented

The United States warned it would be hard to hold the country together if the fighting did not stop after a cease-fire deal was reached to take effect as of Feb. 27.

With hostilities reported on several fronts, rebels backed by Saudi Arabia expressed doubts about the proposal, which excludes attacks by the Syrian army and its Russian backers on the jihadist groups the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Saudi-backed rebels said Russia had stepped up air strikes since the plan was announced on Feb. 22. 

For its part, the Syrian government in Damascus has made clear that continued foreign help for the rebels could wreck the deal. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would soon know if the plan would take hold. 
"The proof will be in the actions that come in the next days," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Feb. 23. 

If a political transition to a government to replace the current administration does not unfold in Syria, there are options, Kerry said, in a reference to undefined contingency plans believed to include military action. 

The next month or two would show if that transition process was serious and Assad would have to make "some real decisions about the formation of a transitional governance process that's real," Kerry said. 

Faced with skepticism about the cessation of hostilities plan, Kerry said that things in Syria could get uglier. 

"It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer," he said. 

Kerry insisted Washington is working on ways to react if diplomacy does not work. "There is a significant discussion taking place now about Plan B if we don't succeed at the...