A series of consultations began Wednesday in Geneva with an aim to redouble international efforts in search of a political process to resolve the conflict in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said.
“This is not Geneva III,” said de Mistura during a press briefing in which he pointed to “limited progress” made so far in finding a political solution to the crisis and in stopping the fighting in certain areas. He made reference to two previous Geneva-based rounds of multi-party talks on the Syria crisis.
“These are closed, low-key, separate, structured discussions with the parties, to consult on the current crisis in Syria, the road ahead and the final destination of a Syria at peace with itself. This is the necessary ground work before we even get to a negotiating table.”
Rather than producing their own outcome document, the talks are aimed at ‘operationalizing’ the Geneva Communiqué, he said, adding that as many actors as possible had been invited in order to establish whether it might be feasible to start a new round of formal negotiations further down the line.
The Communiqué was adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on 30 June 2012, and since endorsed by the UN Security Council.
The document lays out key steps in a process to end the violence. Among others, it calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers and made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.
