Syria

Brahimi to report to UNSC next month: Spokesman

352576_Syria-BrahimiUnited Nations-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi will report to the UN Security Council next month, a UN spokesman has said.

Martin Nesirky said on Thursday that Brahimi would brief the council sometime during the week of March 10-16.

Western diplomats suggested a March 14 date for the Security Council meeting and said Brahimi might also address the General Assembly.

The second round of talks between delegations representing the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition in the Swiss city of Geneva deadlocked on February 15 with both sides sticking to their positions.

The Syrian delegation said fighting terrorism should be the top priority, but the opposition insisted that formation of a transitional government and resignation of President Bashar al-Assad must come first.

The envoy has not set a date for another round.

“It is important that he (Brahimi) makes clear when he briefs the council who is responsible for the failure and that he comes up with some ideas to move this forward,” a Western diplomat said.

Nesirky also confirmed that a joint mission by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is considering a new calendar for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Sigrid Kaag, the mission’s coordinator, said her team is “studying the proposed timetable and its implications, and she expects to say more in the coming days,” Nesirky noted.

The Security Council has given the Syrian government until June 30 to destroy all its chemical weapons.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. Over 130,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the unrest.

According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

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