UN Security Council hopes early Syrian peace talks

The UN Security Council on Friday welcomed the mediation efforts by the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to bring all warring Syrian parties to a negotiation table in order to end the Syrian crisis.

"The members of the Security Council welcomed the conclusion of a further round of United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva on 3 March 2017," Xinhua quoted the UN body as saying.

"The members of the Security Council looked forward to the early resumption of the intra-Syrian negotiations and encouraged the Syrian parties to return to talks in good faith and to engage constructively and without preconditions on the agenda set out by the UN special envoy when talks resume," the statement said.

After briefing the Security Council, De Mistura told reporters here that a new round of Syrian peace talks is set to take place on March 23 in Geneva.

The fourth round of Syrian peace talks ended on Friday with no breakthrough achieved towards reaching a political solution to end the country's six-year war.

"They further welcomed the announcement by Special Envoy de Mistura of a clear agenda for future negotiations" as indicated by Security Council Resolution 2254, focusing on governance; constitutional issues; elections; and counter terrorism, security and confidence building measures, the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council reiterate their commitment to ensuring the inclusion of Syrian women in the political process through sustained consultation and dialogue and promoting their full and effective participation," the statement said.

--IANS

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