Syria Peace Talks In Geneva Temporarily Suspended
The Syrian peace talks aimed at seeking an end to Syria's five-year civil war entered a new low after a UN special envoy called for three-week halt in the proxy discussions conducted through mediators in the Swiss city of Geneva.
"I have concluded, frankly, that after the first week of preparatory talks there is more work to be done, not only by us but by the stakeholders," remarked UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura as quoted by saying by the New York Times.
After meeting with Syrian opposition's Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) on Wednesday, the mediator assigned February 25 as the most auspicious date for resuming the suspended indirect negotiations.
"This is not the end and not the failure of the talks. They [government and opposition delegations] both came and they both stayed - and both sides insisted on a political process," said Mistura as quoted saying by Al Jazeera.
However, the Assad-led Syrian regime, through its ambassador at the negotiations Bashar al Jaafari, criticized the opposition for acceding to Saudi, Qatari, and Turkish instructions to "withdraw from the talks" thus causing the temporary suspension of Geneva talks according to a report by Sky News.
Meanwhile, UK facilitated a day-long donor nations London conference which pledged more than $10 billion until 2020 in a bid to help affected Syrians amid a deepening humanitarian crisis that already resulted in 260,000 people dead and millions more displaced.
"Never has the international community raised so much money on a single day for a single crisis," remarked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the donor nations meeting attended by 60 countries as quoted by BBC.
