SWITZERLAND: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives at U.N. Geneva headquarters ahead of Syria 'Geneva-2' peace talks in Montreux

Record ID: 564868

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives at U.N. Geneva headquarters ahead of Syria 'Geneva-2' peace talks in Montreux
  • Date: 21st January 2014
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 21, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL, BAN KI-MOON, COMING OUT OF CAR, ENTERING U.N. HEADQUARTERS
  • Embargoed: 5th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6285B8QDVJMPDXMH3F3L5IWL
  • Story Text: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Geneva on Tuesday (January 21) to attend peace talks on Syria, known as Geneva-2, in Montreux, Switzerland, on Wednesday (January 22).
    Ban Ki-moon withdrew a last-minute invitation to Iran to attend peace talks on Syria on Monday (January 20) after the Syrian opposition threatened to boycott this week's conference if President Bashar al-Assad's main sponsor took part.
    After nearly 24 hours of confusion that dismayed diplomats who have spent months cajoling opponents to President Bashar al-Assad to negotiate, Ban's spokesman said on Monday Iran was no longer welcome at the talks.
    Ban, his spokesman said, made the invitation to Iran after Iranian officials assured him they supported the conclusion of a U.N. conference in 2012, known as Geneva-1, which called for a transitional administration to take over power in Syria, something neither Assad nor Tehran have been willing to embrace.
    On Monday, Iranian officials made clear that they were not endorsing that conclusion as a basis for the talks.
    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday it was a mistake for Ban withdraw the invitation to Iran, but did not see it as a catastrophe.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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