Indira A.R. Lakshmanan and Donna Abu-Nasr
Published 3:47 am, Thursday, May 9, 2013
...Seeking to assuage such concerns, Secretary of State John Kerry said today that Assad won’t be part of any transitional government. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed May 7 to press for an international conference seeking a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed more than 70,000 lives since March 2011.
Kerry, speaking today during a visit to Rome, said that conversations yesterday with the opposition and other nations to prepare the ground for the U.S.-Russian initiative have been productive. The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, arrived in Istanbul yesterday to meet with opposition leaders in a bid to persuade them to participate....
...The U.S.-Russia initiative “is the first hopeful news concerning that unhappy country in a very long time,” Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy for Syria, said in a statement.
...The U.S.-Russia initiative “is the first hopeful news concerning that unhappy country in a very long time,” Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy for Syria, said in a statement.
Russia, whose ties with the Assad dynasty date back to the Soviet era, has vetoed three European-drafted UN Security Council resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s crackdown and threatening to impose economic sanctions against regime. Russia has defended its actions, saying the opposition was equally to blame for the violence and that Western powers were seeking a Libya-style regime change....
It is time Russia draw up it's own resolution to end the Syrian siege.
8 May 2013 Last updated at 12:42 ET
8 May 2013 Last updated at 12:42 ET
The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, (click here) Lakhdar Brahimi, has hailed a US-Russia commitment to work together to end the conflict in the country.
He said it was "the first hopeful news" on Syria for a long time, but cautioned that it was "only a first step".
On Tuesday, the US and Russia agreed to convene an international conference to find a political solution on Syria.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said they would encourage both Damascus and the opposition to negotiate.
The deal came after Mr Kerry's talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov....
...Speaking to the BBC shortly afterwards, Mr Brahimi said he hoped the Moscow announcements would be a wake-up call for all concerned, and that they would now think only of the Syrian people and how Syria could be saved.
...Speaking to the BBC shortly afterwards, Mr Brahimi said he hoped the Moscow announcements would be a wake-up call for all concerned, and that they would now think only of the Syrian people and how Syria could be saved.
More than 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
Mr Brahimi also stressed that the US-Russian accord meant that the UN Security Council would now be able to function again....
I think every nation involved is worried about an even further deterioration of the wrong entities are to take over Syria. So, the prudent Russia have the correct focus. There needs to be accountable leadership for Syria which the people accept, but, there has to be caution in any potential for extremists to take over the new government.
I think the Russians are correct in some of their point of view. It is all to easy to put troops in harms way as a overt sign of 'exerting control,' but, it doesn't accomplish anything except a grand display of military prowess. A lot of people die when the USA deploys military assets. Far more than 70,000 civilians died in Iraq.
I think every nation involved is worried about an even further deterioration of the wrong entities are to take over Syria. So, the prudent Russia have the correct focus. There needs to be accountable leadership for Syria which the people accept, but, there has to be caution in any potential for extremists to take over the new government.
I think the Russians are correct in some of their point of view. It is all to easy to put troops in harms way as a overt sign of 'exerting control,' but, it doesn't accomplish anything except a grand display of military prowess. A lot of people die when the USA deploys military assets. Far more than 70,000 civilians died in Iraq.
