UN-ARAB ENVOY FOR SYRIA : SYRIA SITUATION WORSEN

Cairo, 19 Rabi’ul Akhir 1434/ 1 March 2013 (MINA) – Visiting UN-Arab Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on Thursday (28/2) sounded the alarm about the seriously deteriorating situation in Syria.

Speaking at a meeting of Yasser Arafat Foundation, held at the Arab League in Cairo on Thursday, he called on everybody concerned to continue efforts to find solutions that could lead to fulfilling the expectations of the Syrian people.

He emphasized that a ceasefire could not be reached in the near future unless a final solution package was set out, cautioning that the situation in Syria is getting from worse to worse, according to Kuwait News Agency reports monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Friday.

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He noted that the main problem is that the Syrian regime claim that there is a world conspiracy against Syria while opposition groups, comparatively, label the regime as being “illegitimate” and insist on toppling it.

But, the UN-Arab envoy for Syria pinned hopes on a US-Russian agreement that could result in an international resolution on the two-year Syrian crisis.

He hailed a recent initiative by chief Syrian opposition figure Muaz al-Khatib for dialogue with the Syrian regime, which he said embarrassed the Syrian government.

However, he regretted that only USD 200 million out of USD-1.5-billion pledges made during Kuwait donors conference for Syria has been delivered.

Russia and France stress Syria unity

Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin held discussions here on Thursday with his French counterpart Francois Hollande, during which they stressed the importance of maintaining Syria’s unity and sovereignty.

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In a joint press conference, Putin noted that the discussions were centered on the Syrian crisis and that they spent long time discussing and arguing about the issue, indicating the importance of Hollande’s agreement to continuing the discussions with their partners, as well as listening to their points of view in this respect.

Also, Putin added that his country and France support a legitimate government in Syria and fight terrorism and extremism, pointing out Russia’s supportive stance with France and its actions in the Mali conflict.

In addition, he said that, during discussions, his French counterpart had crystalized a number of suggestions on solving the situation in Syria, which could be discussed with Russia’s partners without disclosing the content.

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On his part, Hollande said that his country and Russia are working on attaining a settlement in Syria, noting that Paris is aware pf the impossibility of attaining a political settlement in Syria via cooperation with President Bashar Al-Assad.

Moreover, he added it is not possible to hold dialogue with some other sides that claim themselves as representatives of Syrian people, warning at the same time of negativity of wasting time as hundreds of civilians are killed everyday. (T/P011/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)