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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

UN envoy sees huge potential for Syria solution

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GENEVA: The possibility for a solution to the Syrian war has increased, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said, pointing to the US-Russian truce deal and the international focus on defeating IS group in the country.


“I think that we are witnessing a phase of simplifying the most complex conflict of our time,” the UN Syria envoy told reporters after he started new talks involving the Syrian government and opposition.


No one should expect a breakthrough during this week’s round, but there would hopefully be incremental progress so that this Geneva process could get into full swing once the international conditions are right, he said.


“There is a higher potential that we have seen in the past for progress,” De Mistura said, referring to the situation on the ground in Syria as well as geopolitical developments.


Meanwhile, Syrian forces launched an attack on rebels in a southern province on Monday despite a ceasefire, but state media said the assault was against the IS group.


The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the assault in Sweida province began in the morning, almost 24 hours into an internationally brokered ceasefire.


“The Syrian forces started an attack on the area northeast of Sweida city, backed by air strikes,” the monitor said, reporting clashes between government troops and rebel fighters on the ground.


Syrian forces “launched a big attack today, with huge columns of armoured vehicles and with Syrian air cover,” said Firas al Munjed, the group’s communication head.


Both he and the Observatory said forces had captured a string of hilltops and villages along the border between the provinces of Sweida and Rural Damascus.


— Agencies


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