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08Sep14


New UN envoys for Syria crisis to head to Damascus for consultations: spokesman


The new United Nations envoys tasked with advancing a peaceful settlement to the ongoing conflict in Syria will head to Damascus, the Syrian capital, for consultations, a UN spokesman said here Monday.

"The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and Deputy Envoy Ramzy Ezzedine Ramzy, who have assumed their functions in the beginning of the month, will travel to Damascus for consultations with Syrian officials starting Tuesday," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a daily briefing.

This will be the first visit to Syria for the envoys. De Mistura, a former deputy foreign minister of Italy, was appointed on July 10 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to fill a vacancy left by Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned in May. Ban also named Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, former deputy Egyptian foreign minister, as de Mistura's deputy.

"Following this initial visit to Syria, they will then embark on a first round of visits to countries in the region to be continued with visits to other capitals during October and after the conclusion of the High-level Debate in the General Assembly," said Dujarric.

According to the UN, the conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011, has led to more than 190,000 deaths. It has also sent 3 million people fleeing to neighboring countries in search of refuge and left a further 6.5 million displaced inside their war- torn homeland.

Brahimi stepped down from the post of UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria on May 31. The former Algerian UN diplomat managed to organize two rounds of negotiations in Geneva between the Syrian government and members of the opposition earlier this year, yet the peace talks produced little result.

[Source: Xinhua, United Nations, 08Sep14]

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