Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
A new ceasefire in Syria, aiming to end the bloody conflict that has killed thousands, is being discussed between the United Nations envoy and the Syrian authorities and opposition. According to a news report on the UN website, Kofi Annan told a press conference in Iran that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed openness to a stage-by-stage calm.
The UN website quoted Annan as saying Assad “made a suggestion of building an approach from the ground up in some of the districts where we have extreme violence—to try and contain the violence in those districts and, step by step, build up and end the violence across the country.”
Annan was hesitant to describe the ceasefire plan, saying he had yet to meet and discuss the proposal with the Syrian opposition. “The details, of course, are to be worked out… but it really deals with ending the violence,” Annan said.
Assad and the opposition agreed to a ceasefire earlier this year, but it disintegrated amid accusations of violations by the regime. The Syrian conflict began last March when the Assad regime viciously cracked down on the opposition protesting his rule. Later the opposition took up arms as the country has headed towards civil war.
(By Staff, www.themideastupdate.com, June 10, 2012)