SYRIA: The head of U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's office in Damascus, Mokhtar Laman,i meets with Syria's Minister of Reconciliation, Ali Haidar

Record ID: 281415

  • Title: SYRIA: The head of U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's office in Damascus, Mokhtar Laman,i meets with Syria's Minister of Reconciliation, Ali Haidar
  • Date: 1st October 2012
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA2USI159EFMCZRGKVFA2MELRVP
  • Story Text: Canadian diplomat Mokhtar Lamani, the head of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's Damascus office held a meeting with Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation on Sunday (September 30).
    Lamani, appointed as a joint international envoy to Syria, said he had already visited the embattled city of Homs on Saturday (September 29) and had spoken with armed opposition groups.
    "I visited Baba Amr to overview the destruction there and Rastan where I met a number of armed opposition groups' members in order to discuss the situation with them. We are continuing those liaisons with all Syrian parties. This is our country, those are our people and we hope the crisisas soon as possible," said Lamani at the end of his meeting with the Syrian official Ali Haidar.
    Haidar said the meetings were a preliminary process to assist Brahimi's team and not an indication of a possible transferral of power.
    "These visits are to give Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi and his team a clearer picture of what is going on. This will help him form his own picture of the Syrian crisis and this is his right. Thus, the visits are not for negotiations or transferring messages."
    U.N. spokesperson in Syria, Khaled al-Masri, said on Saturday, Lamani met with Colonel Qassim Saad al-Din, a commander of the armed opposition group in Homs.
    Lakhdar Brahimi is soon expected to arrive to Syria to kick-start diplomatic efforts for reconciliation in Syria, which appeared to have ground to a halt since the resignation of Kofi Annan as the joint special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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