The UN security council has approved a landmark resolution outlining a peace process for the Syrian civil war which will see talks between representatives of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the opposition.
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US President Barack Obama said yesterday that there could not be peace in Syria without the withdrawal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syria road map, which also calls for a nationwide ceasefire that would not apply to Islamic State, Nusra Front and some other militant groups, was previously worked out in two rounds of ministerial talks in Vienna.
Emphasising the need for a ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism, the Council asked the UN Chief to report back to it on options with a month, and called on Member States to provide “expertise and in-kind contributions” to support such a mechanism.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister also commented on the resolution: “This is a clear response to attempts to impose a solution from the outside on Syrians on any issues, including those regarding its president”.
Ahmet Davutoglu’s comments come a day after the UN Security Council agreed on a draft text for a peace process to end the conflict.
The United States and Arab allies remain convinced Assad must leave office as part of the process, but his allies Moscow and Tehran insist this is a decision for the Syrian people.
He made the remarks following the third round of global talks on the crisis in Syria in NY on Friday.
John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said: “There are still some issues that we’re trying to work through, and one of them is the percentage of the Russian strikes that are actually going after the opposition, versus Daesh (ISIL)”.
Turkey and US President Barack Obama have ruled out any solution that does not involve the removal of Assad, a position shared by the Syrian opposition.
According to the resolution, a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government should be established in Syria within six months and UN-supervised “free and fair elections” should be held within 18 months.
Ministers said they would meet again in January, and de Mistura is now tasked with pulling together a final negotiating team for the Syrian opposition.
Assad reiterated his rejection of foreign calls for his resignation, saying it’s up to Syrian voters and not foreign politicians to decide who should lead Syria.
“We know that Daesh can never be allowed to gain control in Syria, so we have a global imperative here to deal with a terrorist entity but also to end the civil war”, he said.
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A group of countries will join Jordan in developing that list, Kerry told reporters, without giving details.
