Thursday, February 4, 2016

UN says Syrian peace talks may be resumed 'much earlier'

The Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria issued a statement late Wednesday night, saying that the intra-Syrian talks are to resume in Geneva no later than Feb. 25 and possibly "much earlier."

Hours ago on Wednesday the UN Special envoy for syria Staffan de Mistura announced that the date for the resumption of the talks had been set for Feb. 25.

The latest statement from the Envoy's office said that in the interim period of the talks, the Special Envoy will undertake intense consultations with concerned stakeholders, including Syrian women and civil societies.

"The Special Envoy expected to see progress on the implementation of a number of possible humanitarian initiatives, both within the talks and on the ground," the statement said, adding that "substantive discussions on these matters in Geneva were held up by unresolved procedural issues."

"In recessing the talks the United Nations make it clear that the alleviation of the suffering of the Syrian people remains our top priority, and the Secretary-General has reiterated this very important point on several occasions," the office cited the Special Envoy as saying.

"The United Nations is not prepared to hold talks for the sake of talks. Such talks can only be meaningful if they also deliver immediate tangible benefits to the Syrian people," emphasized the Envoy.

"I sense a strong commitment on the part of many of our international partners to ensure that these humanitarian obligations are implemented. I shall call on the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to address these and other matters, including the call for a national wide ceasefire to be launched in parallel to talks, in the upcoming ISSG meeting next week," he added.


  • Also on midnight Wednesday the Syrian opposition delegation, supposed to leave Geneva also on Thursday, issued a statement alleging that the United Nations Special Envoy has tonight "been forced by the Assad regime's murderous campaign of bombing to pause his efforts to end the Syrian people's suffering."

"There will now be three more weeks of slaughter before we resume, unless the international community acts," it said, adding that every day until Feb. 25, "more men, women and children will be killed and more will be forced to flee Syria to save their lives."
 Xinhua -china.org.cn
4/2/16
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2 comments:

  1. UN mediator suspends intra-Syrian talks for three weeks...

    Just two days after declaring the official start of delayed intra-Syrian talks in Geneva to end five years of bloody warfare, the United Nations mediator suspended them for three weeks today following differences between Government and opposition delegations on the priority of humanitarian issues.

    “I have been asking even before issuing the invitations that there is an immediate implementation of a humanitarian initiative, even before the talks start,” UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told journalists, citing such issues as lifting sieges and providing access for humanitarian aid to all the places which are at the moment unreachable.

    “I was told and reassured that they were going to take place during the talks. Well, I have been hearing from the Government that they had some procedural issues before talking about humanitarian side. I have been hearing from the opposition that they are urgently feeling the need for the Syrian people.”

    He stressed that the suspension was only “a temporary pause” and not the end or failure of the talks, noting that both sides insist they are interested in having the political process begin. He set 25 February for the next session.

    Mr. de Mistura has made clear from the start that he is under no illusions about the difficulties in ending a war that has killed over 250,000 people, sent over 4 million fleeing the country, displaced 6.5 million internally, and put 13.5 million people inside the country in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

    “There will be a lot of posturing, we know that, a lot of walk-outs and walk-ins because a bomb has fallen or because someone has done an attack, and you will see that happening,” he said last week.

    Today he was asked how he felt. “I’m not frustrated, I’m not disappointed, I have been long enough with the UN to know that when you have a five-years war and have had so many difficult moments, you have to be determined but also realistic,” he replied.........http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53159#.VrMPxEApr2Y

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  2. Kerry gibt Moskau Schuld am Scheitern...

    Für Amerikas Außenminister stehen die Schuldigen für das Scheitern der Friedensgespräche in Genf fest: Russland und Syriens Machthaber Assad würden eine rein militärische Lösung anstreben. Derweil rät ein Nato-General zum Einsatz der Allianz, auch mit deutscher Beteiligung.

    Amerikas Außenminister John Kerry hat der Führung in Damaskus und ihrem Verbündeten Russland vorgeworfen, den Friedensprozess für Syrien zu torpedieren. Es sei offensichtlich, dass Damaskus und Moskau eine militärische Lösung des Konflikts wollten, erklärte Kerry am Mittwoch. Er forderte „das Regime und seine Unterstützer“ auf, das Bombardement der Opposition, vor allem in Aleppo, zu beenden.

    Zuvor waren die Genfer Gespräche über eine friedliche Lösung des Konflikts für drei Wochen unterbrochen worden. Während dieser Unterbrechung dürfe es für „die Welt nur eine Richtung geben“, erklärte Kerry: „die Unterdrückung und das Leid des syrischen Volkes zu stoppen und diesen Konflikt zu beenden und nicht zu verlängern“, erklärte Kerry, der sich derzeit in London aufhält......faz.net

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