The conference, originally scheduled to take place in Geneva, will now be held in two parts, with the opening session in Montreux, and, after a day’s break, moving on 24 January to the world body’s headquarters in Geneva. The conference will bring the Syrian Government and the opposition to a negotiating table for the first time since the conflict started in March 2011.
“After the date had been chosen, it was realized that there would be other events taking place in Geneva at the same time,” said Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States, Lakhdar Brahimi, who is organizing the conference.
The World Economic Forum is due to begin in Davos on 22 January with officials and VIPs passing through Geneva, as well as at least one trade fair planned in Geneva.
Rather than change the date, which was selected due to the urgency expressed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the agreement by the initiating countries, the United States and Russia, the first day of the conference was be moved to Montreux.
The town, renowned for its legendary jazz festival, was selected due to “logistics, security, availability of accommodation and conference facilities,” Ms. Mattar said.
“The first part in Montreux …delegations of all invited countries…would have an opportunity to express their views on the issue,” she explained, adding that the second part, in Geneva, would then be restricted to only to the two Syrian delegations and Joint Special Representative Brahimi.
The talks would not be open-ended, and a time frame would be set once the negotiations started, Ms. Mattar announced.
Further details are expected to be discussed on Friday in a trilateral meeting between Mr. Brahimi and officials from the United States and Russia.
The trilateral group, due to meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, would then be joined by permanent representatives of other permanent members of the Security Council – China, France and the United Kingdom – as well as of the League of Arab States, European Union and Syria’s immediate neighbours – Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.
In addition to logistics, the meeting will discuss items such as the list of countries to be invited, and the compositions of the Syrian Government and opposition delegations.
“The JSR would like to know the names of participants as soon as possible, by the end of the year the latest, so that he could commence preliminary consultations with them,” Ms. Mattar said referring to Mr. Brahimi.
Over 100,000 people have been killed and 8 million driven from their homes, 2 million of them seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, since the conflict first erupted in March 2011 between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and initially peaceful opponents seeking to oust him.
The goal of the so-called “Geneva II” conference will be to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on 30 June 2012, which called for the creation of a transitional government that would lead to holding elections.
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17/12/13
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West may remove demand for Assad’s resignation- Al Arabiya ...
ReplyDeleteWest can temporarily remove its demand for the mandatory stepping down of Bashar al-Assad as President of Syria, reported TV channel "Al Arabiya" on Wednesday night.
About this, Western officials informed the National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NKSROS) at the "Friends of Syria" conference in London, last week. According to a senior representative of the opposition coalition, Western officials believe that Assad's removal from office would lead to chaos and increase in violent activities of militant Islamists.
Assad resignation and the formation of a transitional government in Syria is one of the main conditions put forward for NKSROS’s the participation in the Geneva-II international conference, scheduled for January 22, 2014.
Read more: http://indian.ruvr.ru/news/2013_12_18/West-may-remove-demand-for-Assad-s-resignation-Al-Arabiya-3276/
18/12/13
Joint UN-Arab League envoy says over 30 nations invited to peace conference on Syria...
ReplyDelete20 December 2013 – The Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi today announced that more than 30 nations have been invited to attend the long-sought Syria peace conference to be held in Geneva next month.
Mr. Brahimi said invitees to the so-called “Geneva II” conference include the UN, the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States), the League of Arab States, the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and 26 other countries.
“On Iran, we haven’t agreed yet. But it is no secret that we in the United Nations welcome the participation of Iran,” he told journalists in Geneva following meetings there with the United States and Russia, and then with a wider group of countries.
“But our partners in the United States are still not convinced that Iran’s participation would be the right thing to do,” he noted, adding that the remaining list of invitees for the 22 January 2014 conference has been agreed to.
The conference, originally scheduled to take place in Geneva, will now be held in two parts, with the opening session in Montreux, and, after a day’s break, moving on 24 January to UN headquarters in Geneva. The conference will bring the Syrian Government and the opposition to a negotiating table for the first time since the conflict started in March 2011.
The goal of the conference would be to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on 30 June 2012.
The communiqué lays out key steps in a process to end the violence. Among others, it calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers and made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.
Turning to the situation on the ground in Syria, Mr. Brahimi told journalists that he wanted to express his “strong disappointment, and maybe anger and regret.”
“The fighting is intensifying all the time, and aid that is available is not reaching the people who need it,” he added. “Prisoners are … many, many prisoners are detained for no apparent reason. And a lot of people have been kidnapped all over Syria, again for no reason.”
He stressed that access is “very, very important” with UN and partners working on getting aid to about 10 million people out of the 23 million who need help.......http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46796&Cr=syria&Cr1=#.UrUwx_sUpqg
20/12/13
Στον κατάλογο των συμμετεχόντων στη Γενεύη-2 είναι περίπου 30 χώρες ...
DeleteΟ κατάλογος των συμμετεχόντων στην ειρηνική συριακή διευθέτηση Γενεύη-2 έχει συμφωνηθεί, σε αυτόν περιλαμβάνονται περίπου 30 χώρες, όμως η συμμετοχή του Ιράν δεν έχει συμφωνηθεί, δήλωσε την Παρασκευή ο αναπληρωτής επικεφαλής του ΥΠΕΞ της ΡΟ Γκενάντι Γκατίλοφ σε συνέντευξη Τύπου μετά από τη συνάντηση στη Γενεύη για τη Συρία σε μορφή ΡΟ-ΗΠΑ-ΟΗΕ.
Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο, κατά του Ιράν συνεχίζουν να αντιτίθενται οι ΗΠΑ.
Επίσης ο διπλωμάτης είπε ότι η συριακή αντιπολίτευση δεν είναι ακόμα έτοιμη να παρουσιάσει την αντιπροσωπεία για τη Γενεύη-2. Η Μόσχα ελπίζει ότι η Ουάσιγκτον θα συνεχίσει να εργάζεται με την αντιπολίτευση.
Διαβάστε ολόκληρο το κείμενο: http://greek.ruvr.ru/news/2013_12_20/256463600/
21/12/13
Syria rebel chief rejects Geneva peace talks....Leader of Ahrar al-Sham, Syria's most powerful rebel group, tells Al Jazeera he will not recognise potential agreement.....
ReplyDeleteThe leader of the most powerful rebel group in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham, says he will not recognise any agreement reached in the Geneva peace conference planned for January.
Hassan Aboud, speaking to Al Jazeera from an undisclosed location inside Syria, said the group would "absolutely not" take part in the talks in Switzerland, planned for January 22.......http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/syria-rebel-chief-rejects-geneva-peace-talks-201312213147535137.html
21/12/13
West increasingly wary of Assad ouster by Islamists: Russia....
ReplyDeleteWestern diplomats are increasingly saying that President Bashar al-Assad keeping power is a better option for Syria than his overthrow by Islamist militants, Russia's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Friday.
"Not only in private meetings but also in public comments, the idea is occurring to some Western colleagues that...Assad remaining in office is less of a threat for Syria than a takeover of the country by terrorists," Sergei Lavrov told RIA news agency in an interview published on Friday.
Russia has been Assad's most important supporter during Syria's civil war, blocking Western-backed efforts to condemn Assad at the U.N. Security Council or to push him out of power.
Moscow says it is not trying to prop up Assad but that his departure cannot be a precondition for peace moves.
Lavrov said the gains made by Islamist rebels on the Syrian battlefield is pushing a shift in the Western stance on Assad.
He describing the situation in Syria as one in which "jihadist and terrorists are rapidly increasing their influence in Syria, seizing territory and immediately establishing Sharia (Islamic) law there."
Moscow also expressed concern in a separate statement on Friday over fighting near a chemical weapons stockpile in Syria and accused Islamist-led rebel forces of trying to disrupt international efforts to dispose of the poisonous arms.
"In Moscow, we are deeply concerned by these reports," the foreign ministry said in the statement.
More than 100,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes in Syria's civil war, which is now in its third year.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/west-increasingly-wary-of-assad-ouster-by-islamists-russia.aspx?pageID=238&nID=59929&NewsCatID=359
20/12/13
Iraq closes border with ally Syria....
ReplyDeleteIraq ordered on Tuesday the closure of its border with Syria as the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is conducting a massive military operation hunting for al-Qaeda and militant hideouts in the country’s western desert.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki has been a strong supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and reports suggested that his government was facilitating the transfer of Iranian arms to Syria.
But as Iraq began to feel the spillover of the Syrian violence, with many Jihadists returning back from Syrian well-armed and trained and carrying out deadly attacks across Iraq, Maliki appeared obliged to revise his approach to the crisis in Syria.
On Monday an al-Qaeda-linked militant group claimed an attack on two Iraqi television stations that killed five journalists.
At the direction of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's "war ministry," militants attacked "the headquarters of the Salaheddin satellite (channel) which... distorts the facts and fights the Sunni people," the group said on online jihadist forums, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, a bomb struck the acting Iraqi defense minister’s convoy west of Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding two of his guards, the ministry said.
The roadside bomb hit Saadun al-Dulaimi’s convoy as it travelled between Fallujah and Ramadi, “wounding two of his guards and damaging one of the vehicles,” spokesman Mohammed al-Askari was quoted as saying.
Askari did not specify whether or not Dulaimi was travelling in the convoy at the time of the attack.
The bombing comes after five senior officers, among them a divisional commander, and 10 other soldiers were killed on Saturday during an operation against militants in Anbar province, where Dulaimi’s convoy was travelling when it was attacked.
The Iraqi military operation against al-Qaeda near the border with Syria was dubbed “Avenge the Leader Mohammed,” named after the divisional commander who was killed, and Askari said on Monday that Iraqi forces had destroyed two militant camps in Anbar.
Such camps have proliferated in areas near the border with neighboring Syria, where a brutal civil war has bolstered militant groups and fuelled violence in Iraq, Askari said at the weekend.
Speaking to AFP, he said aerial photographs and other information pointed to “the arrival of weapons and advanced equipment from Syria to the desert of western Anbar and the border of Nineveh province.”.......http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/12/24/Iraq-closes-border-with-ally-Syria.html
Syria Opposition: No Geneva Talks Unless Aleppo Bombardment Ends .....
ReplyDeleteBEIRUT — Syria's opposition coalition said on Tuesday it would not attend international peace talks in Geneva next month if President Bashar al-Assad's forces continued a fierce air raid campaign on the northern city of Aleppo.
More than 300 people had been killed in a week of air raids on Syria's biggest city, many of them by so-called barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said on Monday.
Syrian authorities say they are battling rebels in control of parts of the city, once Syria's business hub. But rights groups have condemned the use of barrel bombs - oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and metal fragments - in particular as an indiscriminate form of bombardment........http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-syria-opposition-says-no-geneva-talks-unless-aleppo-bombardment-ends/1816723.html
24/12/13
U.N. sending invitations to Switzerland peace talks on Syria....
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending out invitations on Monday to potential participants in Syrian peace talks scheduled to take place in Switzerland this month, the U.N. press office said.
The U.N. statement said the list of invitees was determined at a December 20 meeting between Russia, the United States and the United Nations. The key players in the talks to try to end Syria's civil war are President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition rebels that have been fighting for nearly three years to oust him.
Earlier on Monday U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said that there had been no agreement on whether to invite Iran though he said Ban supports the idea of Iran's participation and hopes agreement can be reached on that issue. Like Russia, Iran is a staunch supporter of Assad's government.
"It (the conference) aims to bring two broadly representative and credible delegations of the Syrian Government and opposition to a negotiating table in order to end the conflict and launch a political transition," the U.N. statement said.
"The Secretary-General views the conference as a unique opportunity for ending the violence and ensuring that peace can be restored," the statement added. "At the core of this effort is the establishment of a transitional governing body based on mutual consent."
Iran has appeared to rule out participation in Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin in Montreux, Switzerland on January 22, dismissing a U.S. suggestion that it could be involved "from the sidelines" as not respecting its dignity.
Haq said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet on January 13, and voiced the hope they can agree on Iran's participation. He said active support of regional powers in a political solution is critical.
Haq also said the opposition has not yet named members of its delegation for the conference. He said the United Nations urges the Syrian opposition to announce the composition of their "broadly representative" delegation as soon as possible.
Western and Gulf Arab governments oppose the idea of including Iran in the Syria peace conference because it has refused to embrace the idea of creating a transitional government that could replace Assad.
The idea of a political transition for Syria was agreed in principle in June 2012 at a conference in Geneva.
But there has been disagreement over what the outcome of the June 2012 conference meant. Western and Gulf Arab powers want Assad to step aside while Moscow says a decision on who should govern must be made by the Syrians themselves, not by outsiders..................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/06/us-syria-crisis-un-idUSBREA050V820140106?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
6/1/14