- Title: U.N. envoy for Syria: 'We should end the fighting immediately'
- Date: 16th October 2019
- Summary: DAMASCUS SYRIA (OCTOBER 16, 2019) (REUTERS) U.N. VEHICLES PARKED IN THE HOTEL UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA GEIR PEDERSEN COMING OUT OF HOTEL / PEDERSEN GETTING INTO CAR PEDERSEN INSIDE CAR U.N. CONVOY CARRYING PEDERSEN LEAVING HOTEL PREMISES TO GO TO MEETING WITH SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WALID AL-MOUALEM U.N. CONVOY CARRYING PEDERSEN RETURNING TO HOTEL PEDERSEN GETTING OUT OF CAR / WALKING TOWARDS JOURNALISTS U.N. CAR (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO SYRIA, GEIR PEDERSEN, SAYING: "We obviously concentrated on the situation in the northeast and I repeated the Secretary General's strong appeal that we should end the fighting immediately, that there needs to be a cessation of hostilities, and that we are extremely alarmed by the humanitarian consequences of the crisis and that, we today, have seen already too many people killed and of course more than 160,000 people being displaced. There is only a political solution also to the crisis in the northeast and we are appealing to all parties to participate in this. We also discussed the launching of the constitutional committee and we had a rather detailed discussion on how we are going to move forward with the launch of the committee by the end of this month. I will continue to have discussions with the co-chairs of the government list and the co-chair of the opposition. I must say that so far, the discussions I had here in Damascus and with the opposition in Riyadh have been very good when it comes to launching the constitutional committee. Of course, this hopefully can then be a door opener, as I have said many times, to a broader political process.". PEDERSEN ENTERING HOTEL
- Embargoed: 30th October 2019 11:29
- Keywords: Syria Turkey Turkish offensive in Syria war U.S. Kurds UN envoy Geir Pedersen
- Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1CLB9J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on Wednesday (October 16) that he repeated the appeal for fighting to end 'immediately' in northeastern Syria during talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in Damascus.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Pedersen said "there is only a political solution also to the crisis in the northeast and we are appealing to all parties to participate in this," adding that the U.N. is "extremely alarmed" by the humanitarian consequences of Turkey's week-old incursion in northeastern Syria.
The United Nations says 160,000 people have fled their homes as Turkish forces advance. The regional Kurdish administration puts the number of displaced at 270,000.
The U.N. Security Council will likely meet on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Syria, diplomats said, the second such session since Turkey began its offensive.
Pedersen's trip had been planned to discuss preparations for the first meeting of Syria's Constitutional Committee, due to take place in Geneva on Oct. 30.
(Production: Firas Makdesi, Chiara Rodriquez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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