UN General Assembly chief 'optimistic' about Syria talks

The president of the UN General Assembly said today that he is "cautiously optimistic" about negotiations on a Syria peace deal because the main powers with a stake in the conflict share the goal of defeating Islamic State extremists.
Mogens Lykketoft also told The Associated Press that wealthy nations, particularly in Europe, should have done more sooner to help Syrian refugees survive in their overburdened regional host countries, such as Jordan and Lebanon.
Lykketoft, who is from Denmark, told AP that that he is saddened by "xenophobic feelings and fears" expressed by some in Europe in response to the influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in recent months.

On internal UN politics, Lykkehoft said he hopes the next UN chief will be a woman, which would be a first for the world body. A woman as the world's top diplomat "would be a brilliant idea," provided she meets the criteria for the job, he said.
The term of the current UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expires at the end of this year, and Lykketoft has been lobbying for greater transparency and General Assembly involvement in selecting candidates. Currently, permanent members of the UN Security Council play a key role in the selection.
During his visit to Jordan, Lykkehoft visited the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees and met with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

UN-mediated talks on a political solution for Syria are due to begin next week, but delays are possible because of disagreement over which Syrian opposition groups should be allowed to attend.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met today, but it was not clear if they managed to resolve their differences. Both sides said they did not support a delay in the talks.
Once the talks begin, "we have reason to be ... Cautiously optimistic" because world powers and regional players such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran have a "very important common interest" in defeating IS, he said. This common goal "is what should be guiding us toward the roadmap" for a political settlement, he added.

At the same time, the world must spend far more money and resources to help war refugees and those displaced by natural disasters, he said.
A UN panel estimated in a recent report that USD 40 billion is needed in humanitarian aid worldwide each year, but that only USD 25 billion is being spent.
Lykkehoft said the missing USD 15 billion amounts to a tiny fraction of global wealth and that spending the money now is preferable to facing new waves of migration.