De Mistura: Combating terrorism is a priority

New York, SANA-UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday combating terrorism is a priority that we shouldn’t turn aside from.

“The UN has strong points which should be used actively in the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva,” de Mistura said at a press conference following a session for the UN Security Council, adding “when we hold the talks, we have to be sure these talks have good chances for success, not a conference for a mere conference.”

He added “we didn’t reach a deadline in July because I try to postpone announcing it until we end consultations among heads of the sessions to reach an agreement… when we call for the meeting, there should be a big possibility to realize a progress.”

De Mistura pointed out to the importance for listening to the Syrian Kurds in the intra-Syrian talks, but “there are difficulties to guarantee their representation.”

Mazen