UN envoy voices concerns over stepped up clashes in Syria

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on Wednesday that the United Nations is very concerned over the reports of conflict escalation in Syria.

The special envoy made the remarks as he was speaking to reporters in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where he is attending peace talks on Syria, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

De Mistura noted "those reports had come at a delicate moment in the Astana discussions where proposals to de-escalate the conflict are under very serious discussion," the spokesman said.

"The special envoy called for an immediate investigation and for the immediate institution of measures to ensure that all strikes are halted. He urged all parties in Astana to press ahead tomorrow with de-escalation discussions and confidence-building measures," he said.

The peace talks, scheduled for May 3-4, is the fourth international conference on Syria, where a political crisis broke out in March 2011 and developed into a civil war.

The third round of the Syria talks was held in Astana on March 14-15. Representatives of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which had brokered a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, took part in the negotiations alongside the Syrian government delegation and experts from the United Nations, United States and Jordan. Endit