Kerry will lead a US delegation to Switzerland next week for peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels aimed at ending the country's civil war. His comments also come as Syrian opposition groups vote on whether to attend the U.N.-sponsored talks in Montreux, Switzerland.
"I believe as we begin to get to Geneva, and begin to get into this process, that it will become clear there is no political solution whatsoever if Assad is not discussing a transition and if he thinks he is going to be part of that future. It is not going to happen," Kerry told a news conference after meetings with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts.
"We are also not out of options with respect to what we may be able to do to increase the pressure and further change the calculus," he added.
jpost.com
17/1/14
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*****He was referring to the Geneva Communique adopted in June 2012 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and four Middle East countries, which calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria to lead the country out of a protracted conflict that broke out in March 2011.
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Kerry slams Syria ceasefire offer....
ReplyDeleteWith just five days before Geneva, the Syrian government has offered a series of diplomatic options to the opposition.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned the Syrian regime it would fail to divert next week's peace talks away from the aim of installing a new government.
Syria's foreign minister said on Friday he has handed Russia plans for a ceasefire in Aleppo, and was ready to exchange lists with rebel forces on a possible prisoner swap.
Earlier on Friday, during a news conference in Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said he had handed his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, details of the ceasefire, plus plans for a prisoner exchange and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Syria.
"Taking into the account the role of the Russian Federation in ending the bloodshed in Syria, as well as our trustworthy relations, I have handed Minister Lavrov today a plan of security measures in Aleppo," Muallem said.
"In that regard I asked Minister Lavrov to use his contacts to implement this plan and to establish a specific time when all military actions in this area should be ceased."
But Kerry said the announcements were an attempt to divert Geneva II away from instilling the agreements laid down in Geneva I.
"I'm not particularly, you know, surprised that he is trying to divert this. He's been doing this for months, trying to make himself the protector of Syria against extremists," Kerry said of Assad.
Kerry slammed alleged comments from the Syrian regime that the Geneva II peace talks were to discuss ways to combat the rise of terrorist groups plaguing the country as "revisionism."........http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/kerry-slams-syria-regime-ceasefire-offer-2014117152551217128.html
17/1/14
Geneva II should focus on fighting terrorism, transition governing body...
ReplyDeleteGENEVA, February 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia believes that the Geneva II Peace Conference should focus on the fight against terrorism and the creation of a transition governing body, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said.
“The matter is not in details. Any statement saying it is necessary to fight terrorism is being backed by everyone. When concrete discussions start it turns out to be that the opposition considers this problem the fight against state terrorism, i.e. the opposition believes that state terrorism is upheld by the Syrian government and the regime by President Bashar al-Assad,” the Russian diplomat said.
“In fact, the current events in Syria are fully ignored: these are dozens of thousands of mercenaries from different countries and they seek to carry on armed actions till the end and reject the political resolution of the crisis,” he said.
“Thus, these are two important issues. They should be raised at the Geneva talks. Everything will depend on Lakhdar Brahimi’s skills and his capacity to find such modalities, which will be acceptable for both parties,” the Russian diplomat said.
“Russia is ready to uphold any decisions, which will be taken on the basis of the parties’ mutual accord,” he said.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/719187?utm_medium=rss20
14/2/14