UN envoy, Moscow call for revival of Syria plan

December 27, 2012 - 12:33 PM
Mideast Syria


BEIRUT (AP) — Russia and the U.N called Thursday for the resuscitation of a peace initiative for Syria that never got off the ground when it was proposed months ago because both parties to the conflict rejected it.



There was no sign that the plan had any more chance of succeeding now than it did back in June. Assad's government did not comment on the attempt to revive the proposal, and a coordinator for the rebels seeking to end Assad's rule called the plan "illogical."

"No one in the opposition can accept this, and if they accept it, it will be refused by the Syrian people," said Bassam Al-Dada, a Turkey-based coordinator with the rebel Free Syrian Army. He said Assad's forces have killed too many people for him to play a role in any solution.


Because of Russian objections, the original plan did not call specifically for Assad's ouster nor ban him or top members of his regime from participating in the new government.

Much has changed in Syria since the plan was first presented. Rebels have gained momentum, seizing more territory and a number of military installations in the country's north. They are also expanding their control in suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

These gains make it increasingly unlikely that they will accept any plan that allows any part of Assad's regime to remain.


In Damascus on Thursday, the U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi called the Geneva plan "suitable enough" to end Syria's war.

"The Syrian people seek genuine change," Brahimi said, adding that the transitional period "must not lead to the collapse of the state or the state's institutions."

Brahimi said that original plan could be amended, but he didn't say how.

He did not mention Assad by name and only said the transitional government would have "full executive powers," meaning "all the authority of the state should be possessed by that government."



"We continue to believe that there is no alternative to that document in trying to find a settlement in Syria," Lukashevich said.

He also reaffirmed Moscow's objection to calls for Assad's ouster.








