Pretoria - In a major turn, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has withdrawn his invitation to Iran to attend a conference on ending the nearly three-year-old Syrian civil war, which is due to start at Montreux, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
Ban’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the secretary-general was "dismayed (and) deeply disappointed" on Monday and "currently, urgently considering his options" after Iran released public statements conflicting with what was reportedly discussed in private, resulting in their invitation to participate being withdrawn.
Iran, whose invitation was seen as controversial due to its backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, refused to support a process to form a transitional government -- one of the goals of the conference laid out in the Geneva Communiqué issued on June 30, 2012.
"The secretary-general is deeply disappointed by Iranian public statements that are not at all consistent with that stated commitment," Nesirky said.
"He continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva Communiqué. Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, he has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran's participation," the spokesman said.
The international conference is designed to find a peaceful solution to the nearly three years of fighting in Syria, which has claimed the lives of more than 100 000 people and produced two million refugees.
Both the Syrian government and representatives of the opposition said they would attend the meeting and the joint UN-League of Arab States representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, was ready to mediate the talks between the two Syrian camps on Friday.
However, the move to invite Iran provoked a row, with the Syria National Opposition and the United States objecting and the opposition threatening to withdraw.
“During the brutal conflict of the past three years, the Syrian people have experienced horrendous suffering, humanitarian shortages and human rights abuses,” the statement read out by Nesirky said.
“The Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 remains the internationally agreed framework for ending the crisis.
“It is the basis on which the global community will gather on Wednesday in Montreux, Switzerland, and the foundation for the negotiations between the Syrian parties that will begin on Friday in Geneva. Throughout the Syrian conflict, the Secretary-General has sought to do everything within his power for a political solution, which is the only path forward.”
The secretary-general said he looked forward to joining the initiating parties, Russia and the US, as well as some 40 other states and organisations that will attend “this long-awaited and hugely important push for peace”.
“The Syrian parties, the region and the international community have an opportunity and a responsibility to end the violence and begin a transition towards a new Syria,” the statement said. – SAnews.gov.za
