|
Syria faces 'hell' if no deal to end crisis - UN envoy
Syria faces a stark choice between a political solution to end 21 months of bloodshed or "hell", United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has warned.Mr Brahimi, speaking after talks in Moscow, said the conflict had become more militarised and sectarian. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed talks were the only solution. But he said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's removal could not be a condition for talks, as demanded by the Syrian opposition. Mr Brahimi, who arrived in the Russian capital after talks in Damascus with President Assad, expressed concern at the escalation of the war. It risked becoming "a mainly sectarian conflict, with dire consequences for the Syrian people," he said. It also risked bringing chaos to the region with neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan overrun by refugees, he said. "The only alternative is really hell, or a political process, then we have got all of us to work ceaselessly for the political process," Mr Brahimi said. Posted by: tipper 2012-12-29 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=358990 |