1st LD Writethru: UN Syria envoy reiterates "freezing" fighting in Allepo

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on Thursday expressed his concerns over the devastating situation in Syria and stressed the importance of "freezing" battles in part of the war-torn country.

As the Syrian conflict enters into its fourth year, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria, addressed a press conference to shed light on the continuing torment borne by Syrian people, noting that 12 million Syrian people were in need of humanitarian assistance, 7.6 million have been displaced, and the number of Syrian refugees hit 3.2 million.

"We are starting 2015 with the Syrian conflict being the largest humanitarian crisis since the second world war. It is the place now providing more refugees than the Afghan refugees," said de Mistura.

"It is a disgrace. It is a true tragedy that people all over Syria continue live under constant fear of barrel bombs, mortar attacks, rockets, aerial bombing, car bombs, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings," he said.

The veteran diplomat reiterated his proposal of "freezing" heavy fighting in Aleppo in a bid to alleviate the suffering of Syrians there and spare further destruction.

De Mistura said he had been engaged in intense discussions with the Syrian government and the opposition forces regarding the "freeze," and would send another delegation for further negotiations.

"It needs to be simple, the freeze, it needs to be just a freeze to start with, but it needs to be there. We are aiming at the reduction of violence and possibly a freeze of all military activities, bearing in mind the need of an accelerated humanitarian aid," said de Mistura.

"Our hope is that Aleppo could be a signal of goodwill, a confidence-building measure which could and can facilitate the re-starting of a political process with a clear political horizon," the special envoy told reporters.

The mediator stressed that compared to the previous diplomatic efforts to seek peace for Syria, there were new factors on the ground; one such major factor was terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

De Mistura pointed out that in the process of searching for a political formula that could initiate real political progress, the current violence at least needed to be reduced.

"Reduction in violence would send a signal to everyone that there is some genuine interest by everyone," he said about the willingness to find common ground.

According to de Mistura, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has publicly indicated he would be interested in studying this proposal. Enditem