Keep faith for political settlement of Syria crisis

People's Daily, July 3, 2012

The international community especially the great powers should reach a consensus to support the mediation efforts of the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan and open the political dialogue without prerequisites and presupposed results as early as possible.

Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syria conflict, has recently announced that the Syrian action group would hold a ministerial meeting in Geneva on June 30, coping with the escalating Syrian crisis. Annan's proposal of establishing a national coalition government in Syria will be one of the main topics at the meeting.

The Syrian violent conflict has last for 16 months. According to the statistics of the United Nations, the increasingly fierce bloody conflict has caused more than 10,000 deaths and tens of thousands of people homeless. Syrian President Bashar Val-Assad has said that his country is in "a state of war." Influenced by the worsening security situation, the UN observer mission has suspended their mediation efforts.

Although the process of politically resolving the Syrian conflict is facing new challenges, the international community did not give up their mediation efforts. The forthcoming international conference on Syrian conflict is the latest evidence and the recent EU foreign ministers meeting and the NATO council meeting have also sent out similar signal, both of which excluded or gave a "low-key response" to the possibility of military intervention.

The report submitted by the newly founded Syrian International Commission of Inquiry to the UN Human Rights Council said that the suspects of Houla tragedy have not yet been identified and the pro-government militia, the reactionary forces and foreign forces cannot wash away their suspicion. The report did not direct at the Syrian Government, which is an attitude of not taking a side with any parties and is necessary for the International community to mediate about the political settlement of Syrian conflict.

Some related countries began preparing for the era of the post-Bashar but they keep cautious on the military intervene, considering their domestic politics and the consequences of military intervene. The war cannot bring lasting peace and stability. The forcible regime change resulting in war and ruins can only bring the harm difficult to be healed, social unrest, downward domestic economy and regional instability. Moreover, Syria's domestic situation is complicated and it is the focus of conflicts of the Middle East area. Once the "Pandora's Box" is opened, it will be very difficult to rein the devils in it.

Under the complicated situation, the only right way is the political settlement. The international community especially the great powers should reach a consensus to support the mediation efforts of Annan, urge all parties of Syria to cease fire and fully implement the related decisions of the Security Council and the six-point proposal of Annan. They should also open the political dialogue without prerequisites and presupposed results to promote a peaceful, impartial and proper solution of Syrian crisis as soon as possible.