SYRIA: Chief U.N. monitor in Syria Robert Mood says there is a move towards military gains in the country rather than a willingness for peaceful transition

Record ID: 280980

  • Title: SYRIA: Chief U.N. monitor in Syria Robert Mood says there is a move towards military gains in the country rather than a willingness for peaceful transition
  • Date: 16th June 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JUNE 15, 2012) (REUTERS) MOOD WALKING AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF UN OBSERVERS AT HOTEL LOBBY BEFORE LEAVING FOR FIELD VISIT
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5LL01RXDU4RHWPU5JD63B7G1K
  • Story Text: As violence intensifies in Syria, the chief U.N. monitor in Syria said on Friday (June 15) that there was a move towards military gains in the country rather than a willingness for peaceful transition.
    "Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers. The Syrian population, civilians are suffering, and in some locations civilians have been trapped by ongoing operations," said Robert Mood, Chief of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), during a presentation briefing of the mission's work in the last six weeks.
    Mood said the Syrian people were suffering due to the unwillingness from both sides to work towards a peaceful transition.
    "There appears to be a lack of willingness to seek the peaceful transition, the peaceful way forward that we are longing for and that the Syrian people are longing for. Instead there is a push towards advancing military positions," he said.
    He asked parties who are outside Syria not to jump into the conclusion that the country would get into a sectarian war, because the Syrian crisis is much more complicated to be put in one dimension.
    "I've seen the reports about the sectarian line as you have seen, but I think my message would be to, in particular everyone outside Syria who tries to simplify the Syrian crisis to one dimension that would be over simplification and a mistake. It's a complicated situation. There is many opportunities to, let's say, try to jump on one conclusion instead of trying to look at the whole picture, and this is also a main reason why UNSMIS still has an extremely valuable role to play on the ground to be able, with the absence of violence with the reduction of violence, to verify facts," Mood said.
    Mood stressed that there was no other plan yet on the table, and international mediator Kofi Annan's six point plan was not being implemented.
    UN observers entered the town of Haffeh near the coast on Thursday (June 14) after trying to enter it for a week.
    They finally gained access to find state buildings burnt down, shops abandoned and a body lying in the street. Smoke rose from destroyed buildings and burnt-out cars littered in the streets. There were signs of a heavy bombardment.
    Only a handful of residents could be seen, and according to one man, 26,000 people had fled the town.
    Rebels pulled out of the town this week saying that the thousands of remaining citizens risked being killed, a warning echoed by the United States.
    Violence has surged in recent weeks after rebels abandoned a ceasefire negotiated by international envoy Annan in his efforts to ease the conflict between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the movement fighting to end his family's four decade rule.
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