SWITZERLAND: UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has talks with Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Syria

Record ID: 280304

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has talks with Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Syria
  • Date: 28th February 2012
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FEBRUARY 27, 2012) (REUTERS). ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION SECRETARY-GENERAL EKMELEDDIN IHSANOGLU ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION SECRETARY-GENERAL EKMELEDDIN IHSANOGLU SAYING: "The situation in Syria is very sad. Every day there are killings, scores of people are
  • Embargoed: 14th March 2012 12:00
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  • Location: Switzerland, Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA67V8D5CZBJW4AXLMUZ2UJL797
  • Story Text: Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, now the U.N.-Arab League envoy on Syria, was holding separate talks in Geneva on Monday (February 27) with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and France's Alain Juppe, diplomats and U.N. officials said.
    Annan met Salehi for about 20 minutes and was due to see Juppe later on Monday at the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva, before leaving for New York on Wednesday, a U.N. official told Reuters.
    The two foreign ministers were in the Swiss city to address the U.N. Human Rights Council, which will hold an emergency debate on Tuesday on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's bloody crackdown on a popular uprising.
    Iran is one of Assad's few remaining allies while France has taken a prominent role in international efforts to isolate him to stop the bloodshed.
    Annan was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby last Thursday as joint special envoy on Syria.
    In his first statement on Friday, Annan called for the full cooperation of all parties and stakeholders to help bring an end to Syria's violence and human rights abuses.
    Annan, U.N. chief from 1997 through 2006, brings global stature and experience in conflict resolution to his new job, but averting a long and bloody civil war in Syria that could further destabilise the Middle East may be impossible.
    The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Monday it saw little prospect for reconciliation in Syria.
    "The situation in Syria is very sad. Every day there are killings, scores of people are killed. Cities are devastated, blood is shed, and we don't see any sign for reconciliation," OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told a news conference at the U.N. in Geneva.
    "From day one we have been calling the Syrian regime to stop violence, engage with the opposition in dialogue, and to accelerate the reform process. And unfortunately our efforts and other efforts have not borne fruit yet," he added.
    He added that violence between Syria's various faith groups is the "last thing we would like to see in the Muslim world".
    Ihsanoglu was visiting the United Nations office in Geneva on the same day that the U.N. Human Rights Council started its annual four-week session that was to be followed by the emergency debate on Syria on Tuesday.
    A resolution passed by the main U.N. human rights forum would add to the moral pressure on Syria but would have no practical impact on the situation there.
    The U.N. Security Council reached deadlock on Syria when Russia and China vetoed a resolution condemning the government's violent crackdown.
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