UN chief to convene Geneva II conference for Syria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon will convene the Geneva II conference for Syria, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky announced Thursday.

The planned conference is meant to build on the efforts of a previous one, held in late June 2012 in Geneva, which called for immediate ceasefire between Syrian fighting parties and launching inter-Syrian dialogue for a transitional government.

Ban is intensifying efforts to hold the conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in mid-November, reported Xinhua citing Nesirky at a daily news briefing held here. "It would be for the secretary-general to convene such a conference and to invite the parties to attend."

The UN spokesman also said that the joint special representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will head to the region for consultations with the key parties related to the conference.

According to Nesirky, whether Iran would be invited or not to be present at the forthcoming meeting would be one of the topics to be discussed during Brahimi's meetings. But UN officials have said earlier that Iranian participation would be useful.