Iraq News

UN Syria envoy eyes 'political initiative'

The UN Syria envoy said Thursday (September 1st) he was planning to present "an important political initiative" for the country this month, AFP reported.

"We are in the process of preparing an important political initiative," Staffan de Mistura said, speaking to the press in Geneva.

He did not offer further details, but said he hoped the new initiative would help the UN General Assembly "to look the problems in Syria in the eye" when it next meets on September 13th.

A high-level meeting on Syria is to be held at the UN Security Council on September 21st, he said, noting that this is "the target date for making sure that everyone is actively involved in producing some positive outcome on this conflict".

De Mistura had voiced hope of bringing the warring parties back to the negotiating table by the end of August, but that deadline slipped in the face of intense fighting on the ground.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Geneva last Friday, but while they said they had taken key steps towards agreeing a new ceasefire for Syria, they failed to nail down a final deal.

"Very senior military, security and diplomatic" officials from the two countries began meeting at the UN headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday to work out the details, de Mistura said, with talks expected to continue through Friday or Saturday morning.

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