DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Visiting UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said on Sunday that he sees new possibilities for a political solution in Syria after his meetings with officials from the West and Arab countries.
“I think there is a possibility now to start to explore what I call a step-for-step approach, where you put on the table steps that are defined with precisions, that are verifiable, that hopefully can start to build some trust,” Pedersen told the reporters in Damascus.
He added that he had been traveling extensively among Arab countries, while conducting “in-depth discussions” with the Americans and the Europeans.
He pointed out that the stances of all regional and international players should be analyzed, as well as developments in Syria, in order to reach a comprehensive political solution to the country’s decade-long war.
“My message is that there is another possibility to start to explore possible avenues, to start to move forward on this process,” he said.
The remarks by the UN envoy come as public anger has escalated against the West’s support for terrorists that led to destruction of the country.
Residents of a village in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah have intercepted a U.S. military convoy attempting to pass through their community, and forced it to turn back.
According to Syria’s official news agency SANA, residents in al-Matiniyah southeast of Qamishli blocked the convoy of three armored vehicles on Saturday evening, and forced it to turn around and head back in the direction it came from.
The villagers threw stones at the convoy, breaking the windows of one of the vehicles, it said.
The convoy was accompanied by a number of vehicles belonging to U.S.-backed Kurdish militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, U.S. troops and their proxies laid siege to a town and imposed a curfew after coming under attack by Arab tribes.
Local sources told Russia’s Sputnik news agency that SDF militants imposed a curfew in the al-Busayrah town after local tribesmen targeted their military headquarters.
SDF militants also raided the village of Abriha near the town and made arrests, it added.
According to locals cited by Sputnik, SDF snipers deployed throughout the town target those leaving their homes.
They cited intense overflights by U.S. military warplanes, helicopters and drones, after the main outpost of the so-called first brigade of the SDF came under attack.