Un Peace Envoy For Syria

The UN's Syria envoy said on Monday he has planned peace talks for February in Geneva, as the UN Security Council voted to deploy observers to war-ravaged Aleppo.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria hopes that a meeting expected to be held in Geneva next week with US and Russian officials will pave the way for a resumption of peace talks between the warring parties, his spokeswoman said today.

The UN's Syria envoy said Thursday he planned to hold another round of peace talks next month, but called for a stuttering ceasefire to be "revitalised" before setting a date, as at least 20 civilians were killed in second city Aleppo.

Syria's opposition has rejected a proposal from the UN envoy brokering peace talks in Geneva that would have kept Bashar al-Assad as president with three deputies of his opponents' choosing, an opposition source told news agency AFP on Saturday.

The UN envoy for Syria called Friday for elections in the war-ravaged country in 18 months, as the opposition announced it will attend fresh peace talks next week.

UN-mediated talks to end the war in Syria are on pause until February 25, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday, saying the talks had not failed but needed immediate help from international backers led by the United States and Russia.

The UN envoy for Syria on Monday declared the official start of peace negotiations in Switzerland aimed at charting a way out of the brutal and tangled civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people.

The UN special envoy for Syria fought Sunday to keep alive the biggest diplomatic push yet to end the Syrian war as Washington urged both sides in fragile peace talks to seize the moment.

Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open Monday, will instead begin in Geneva on Friday and last for six months, the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said.

An air strike reportedly killed dozens of people in a rebel-held town in Syria on Saturday as a UN envoy visited Damascus to advance preparations for peace talks planned this month despite opposition misgivings.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would restore ties with Iran when Tehran stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries and pledged that Riyadh would continue to work "very hard" to support bids for peace in Syria and Yemen despite the spat.

The UN peace envoy for Syria traveled to Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of a visit to Iran for talks aimed at defusing tensions between the two regional heavyweights, the UN spokesman said.

Senior international envoys gather in New York today to seek UN backing for an ambitious US and Russian plan to bring about a negotiated end to Syria's brutal civil war.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov began talks in Moscow today in an effort to keep the brittle Syrian peace process on track.

The UN peace envoy for Syria urged world powers Tuesday to build on the "momentum" of new international talks and come up with a political process to end the four-year war.

The UN's Syria envoy said on Monday he has planned peace talks for February in Geneva, as the UN Security Council voted to deploy observers to war-ravaged Aleppo.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria hopes that a meeting expected to be held in Geneva next week with US and Russian officials will pave the way for a resumption of peace talks between the warring parties, his spokeswoman said today.

The UN's Syria envoy said Thursday he planned to hold another round of peace talks next month, but called for a stuttering ceasefire to be "revitalised" before setting a date, as at least 20 civilians were killed in second city Aleppo.

Syria's opposition has rejected a proposal from the UN envoy brokering peace talks in Geneva that would have kept Bashar al-Assad as president with three deputies of his opponents' choosing, an opposition source told news agency AFP on Saturday.

The UN envoy for Syria called Friday for elections in the war-ravaged country in 18 months, as the opposition announced it will attend fresh peace talks next week.

UN-mediated talks to end the war in Syria are on pause until February 25, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday, saying the talks had not failed but needed immediate help from international backers led by the United States and Russia.

The UN envoy for Syria on Monday declared the official start of peace negotiations in Switzerland aimed at charting a way out of the brutal and tangled civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people.

The UN special envoy for Syria fought Sunday to keep alive the biggest diplomatic push yet to end the Syrian war as Washington urged both sides in fragile peace talks to seize the moment.

Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open Monday, will instead begin in Geneva on Friday and last for six months, the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said.

An air strike reportedly killed dozens of people in a rebel-held town in Syria on Saturday as a UN envoy visited Damascus to advance preparations for peace talks planned this month despite opposition misgivings.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would restore ties with Iran when Tehran stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries and pledged that Riyadh would continue to work "very hard" to support bids for peace in Syria and Yemen despite the spat.

The UN peace envoy for Syria traveled to Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of a visit to Iran for talks aimed at defusing tensions between the two regional heavyweights, the UN spokesman said.

Senior international envoys gather in New York today to seek UN backing for an ambitious US and Russian plan to bring about a negotiated end to Syria's brutal civil war.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov began talks in Moscow today in an effort to keep the brittle Syrian peace process on track.

The UN peace envoy for Syria urged world powers Tuesday to build on the "momentum" of new international talks and come up with a political process to end the four-year war.