UN envoy questions US engagement on Syria

Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Syria, speaks on the last day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Sunday. (AP)

MUNICH: UN envoy Staffan de Mistura on Sunday questioned US President Donald Trump’s engagement in solving the Syrian war, just days ahead of a new round of peace talks in Geneva.
“Where is the US in all this? I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” he said, adding that the new administration was still trying to work out its priorities on the conflict.
The top three US priorities include fighting Daesh, “how to limit the influence of some major regional players and how to not to damage one of their major allies in the region,” de Mistura told the Munich Security Conference.
“How you square this circle, that I understand is what they are discussing in Washington,” he said.
Mistura stressed that what was ultimately key was an inclusive political solution to end the six-year conflict.
“Even a cease-fire with two guarantors can’t hold too long if there is no political horizon,” he said, referring to a fragile truce brokered by Russia and Turkey in December.
Any political solution has to be inclusive to be credible, he said, stressing that peace talks in Astana last week organized by Russia, Turkey and Iran, and the cease-fire deal provided an opening that should be explored.
The UN envoy said talks to be held in Geneva from Feb. 23 would aim to see if there was a window for political negotiations to advance.
“Astana is the only place for the cessation of hostilities and Geneva is to see if there is any space for political discussion,” de Mistura said, referring to separate cease-fire talks in the Kazakh capital between Turkey, Russia and Iran.
He said the Geneva talks would be based on UN Security Council resolution 2254.
“I can’t tell you (if it will succeed), but we have to push for momentum. Even a cease-fire cannot hold too long if there is no political (solution).”
Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the coalition against Daesh, acknowledged that Trump’s administration is “re-looking at everything, which is a very healthy process from top to bottom.”
The new US administration was still reviewing its Syria position, but that it was seeking a role to reinforce Russian and Turkish efforts to cement a cease-fire in the country.

Opposition says Assad must go
The Syrian opposition is fully committed to peace talks in Geneva, a senior official said on Sunday, adding the talks would need to pave the way for a political transition.
“We are fully committed for the Geneva talks,” Syrian National Coalition President Anas Al-Abdah told delegates at the Munich Security Conference. “We cannot address the profound security threats ... while Assad remains in power,” he said.
No solution can be found “as long as Assad remains in power,” he told the Munich forum.
More than 310,000 people have died since a popular uprising in 2011 against Assad morphed into all out civil war, with more than half the population forced to flee their homes.