De Mistura: Syrian Opposition Must Accept Defeat
Local Editor
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura called on the Syrian opposition to accept that they have failed to win their war against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
"For the opposition, the message is very clear: if they were planning to win the war, facts are proving that is not the case. So now it is time to win the peace," de Mistura told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.
He further noted that the war was almost over, as many countries have concerted efforts to defeat Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ‘ISIS/ISIL'] Takfiri terrorists in Syria and a national ceasefire should follow soon after.
"Victory can only be if there is a sustainable political long-term solution. Otherwise instead of war, God forbid, we may see plenty of low intensity guerrilla [conflicts] going on for the next 10 years, and you will see no reconstruction, which is a very sad outcome of winning a war," he added.
De Mistura plans to join the next round of negotiations between representatives from the Syrian government and foreign-sponsored armed opposition besides delegates from Iran, Russia, and Turkey as mediators in the Kazakh capital city of Astana between September 14 and 15.
He has sought to unify the opposition after hosting seven rounds of largely unsuccessful talks in Geneva.
The UN envoy underlined the need for resolving the fate of Idlib at the Astana talks, saying, "I am confident...there will be a non-conflictual solution - let us say not a new Aleppo, that is what we want to avoid at any cost, if we have learned from the past."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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