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Annan: Action Group for Syria to meet on Saturday

China.org.cn, June 28, 2012

• The Action Group for Syria will convene in Geneva, at the ministerial level, this Saturday, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan, said Wednesday.

  Kofi Annan, Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States on Syria. [Jean-Marc Ferré/UN Photo]

  "The objectives of the Action Group for Syria are to identify steps and measures to secure full implementation of the six-point plan and Security Council resolutions 2042 and 2043, including an immediate cessation of violence in all its forms," Mr. Annan said in a statement.

  "The Action Group for Syria should also agree on guidelines and principles for a Syrian-led political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people; and agree on actions that will make these objectives a reality on the ground," he added.

  The Joint Special Envoy said that he had sent on Wednesday invitations to the Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – and Turkey, for the meeting this weekend.

  In addition, invitations were also sent to the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Ban Ki-moon and Nabil Elaraby, respectively, and to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; as well as to the Foreign Ministers of Iraq, as Chair of the Summit of the League of Arab States; Kuwait, as Chair of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the League of Arab States and Qatar, as Chair of the Follow-up Committee on Syria of the League of Arab States.

  "I look forward to a productive meeting this weekend, where we can all agree on concrete actions to end the cycle of violence and bring peace and stability to the Syrian people," Mr. Annan said.

  Amongst other things, the Council's resolutions 2042 and 2043 dealt with the deployment of monitors, including those of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which recently suspended the patrols of its observers due to the escalating violence on the ground.

  The Council established UNSMIS in April to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitor and support the full implementation of a six-point peace plan put forward by Joint Special Envoy Annan.

  The six-point plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

  The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago.

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