SYRIA: The head of the U.N. monitoring mission in Syria returns to Damascus after a weekend meeting in Geneva

Record ID: 281008

  • Title: SYRIA: The head of the U.N. monitoring mission in Syria returns to Damascus after a weekend meeting in Geneva
  • Date: 2nd July 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JULY 2,2012) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** EXTERIOR OF DAMA ROSE HOTEL CONVOY OF UNSMIS CHIEF ROBERT MOOD, ARRIVING VARIOUS OF MOOD HEADING TO ELEVATOR AND SAYING (English): "It's good to see you guys again." U.N. OBSERVERS GETTING OUT OF ELEVATOR VARIOUS OF OBSERVER HEADING TO CAR, GETTING IN VARIOUS OF TWO OBSERVERS TALKING TO EACH OTHER VA
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4XPS8PSFPJXGDWZ1AFQAHXVMM
  • Story Text: The head of the United Nations observer mission in Syria arrived back in Damascus on Monday (July 2) after attending an international meeting in Geneva.
    General Robert Mood was in Switzerland at the weekend for a gathering of world leaders to try and find a solution to the Syria crisis.
    At the meeting, world powers struck an agreement that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the conflict there but they remained at odds over what part President Bashar al-Assad might play in the process.
    The talks had been billed as a last-ditch effort to halt the worsening violence in Syria but hit obstacles as Russia, Assad's most powerful ally, opposed Western and Arab insistence that he must quit the scene.
    Meanwhile U.N. observers continued their work on Monday by visiting local hospitals.
    The full monitoring mission was suspended in mid-June when Mood said the fighting in the country posed a threat to his unarmed observers.
    The mission, known as UNSMIS, is still engaged in limited monitoring activity, but largely confines it activities to humanitarian work.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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