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News ID: 52054
Publish Date : 21 April 2018 - 21:22
UN Chief:

No Military Solution for Syria

STOCKHOLM (Dispatches) – United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has ruled out any military solution to the crisis in Syria following recent U.S.-led airstrikes against the war-torn country.
"I think we need … to understand that there is no military solution, the solution is political. And the way for a political solution is known - it is the Resolution of the Security Council 2254, with a Communique in Geneva and it is through intra-Syrian talks between government and opposition to be able to overcome the differences that exist,” Guterres said Saturday.
The UN chief admitted, however, that "there is still a long way to go to bring together members of the Security Council in relation to the Syrian conflict."
He made the remarks in southern Sweden, where he met with UN Security Council ambassadors for an informal working meeting.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. and its allies "bombed" the UN-backed Syria talks in Geneva by their recent military strikes against the country.
The U.S., France and Britain "on 14 April bombed not only made-up chemical sites in Syria, but also bombed the (UN-backed peace) talks in Geneva," Lavrov said following a meeting with UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Moscow on Friday.
"We came very close to a re-launching of the Geneva process with a real dialogue between Syrians, mainly on the question of constitutional reform," Lavrov noted.
Russian officials say the tripartite Western attacks hit Syria right at the moment the country had a chance to have a peaceful future.
The Syrian government and opposition groups are already involved in a political process mediated by Russia, Iran and Turkey in Astana, Kazakhstan.
In the latest developments in the country, terrorists have agreed to surrender another area near the capital, Damascus, under a deal with the government, which enables their exit to northern parts of the country, Syrian media say.
"An agreement has been reached in the area of Eastern Qalamoun providing for terrorists to exit al-Ruhayba, Jayrud and al-Nasiriya starting from” Saturday, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported.
Some 3,200 terrorists and their families were expected to leave as per the agreement, according to state media.
The terrorists would hand over heavy and medium-size weapons as well as ammunition depositories to the government before leaving for the northern town of Jarablus in Aleppo Province and the neighboring province of Idlib, which is the last major terrorist-held territory in Syria.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said buses had already entered East Qalamoun to transfer the militants and their family members out of the area.
 
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) and Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven answer journalists' questions during a UN Security Council meeting at Backakra outside Ystad, southern Sweden on April 21, 2018.