UN envoy for Syria continues meeting with Syrian, regional, int'l stakeholders

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, continued to meet with a broad spectrum of Syrian, regional and international interlocutors within the framework of the Geneva Consultations to find a political solution to the Middle Eastern country's five-year conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Wednesday.

"Since 5 May 2015, Mr. de Mistura and his deputy, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, have met so far with representatives of the Syrian government, the Syrian opposition coalition and 39 Syrian political and civil society groups," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

The Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition was one of the main parties representing the Syrian opposition in the first and second Geneva conferences in 2012 and 2014, respectively. However, the group appeared to gradually lose touch with developments on the ground.

"They have also held 26 meetings with representatives of concerned Member States from the (UN) Security Council and the region, as well as regional organizations," Dujarric said, adding "This process is expected to continue into July."

"Mr. de Mistura reiterates his sincere hope and belief that guns will fall silent one day," he said. "The sooner they fall silent, the more lives will be saved. It is the responsibility of all Syrian, regional and international actors to try to bring that day forward and to make every effort to protect civilians under any circumstances and at all times."

"This is particularly relevant to the unacceptable use of barrel bombs," he said.

In the coming weeks, the special envoy intends to brief UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his findings from this process.

During Syria's tragic five-year arc of conflict, 220,000 people have been killed, more than one million have been injured, 7.6 million have been displaced and four million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to UN estimates.

In the past weeks alone, well over 100,000 people were displaced in a new wave of fighting in Idlib while some 14 million people are now displaced due to the interlinked crises in Syria and Iraq.

In addition, the repeated use of highly lethal weaponry, such as barrel bombs, has increasingly drawn condemnation from the special envoy and the UN itself.

The United Nations describes the Geneva Consultations as "a rolling process of separate and informal meetings" aimed at implementing the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012.

The Geneva Communique, adopted after the first international meeting on Syria in June 2012, called for the creation of a transitional government that would lead to the holding of elections. The communique has long been seen as the political basis for peace talks on the Syrian crisis. Endite