I hope Geneva 2 conference will convene soon – Kofi Annan

MOSCOW, (ST) – The U.N. is only a secretariat and there is no need to sidestep all responsibility on it for the situation in Syria. “I hope that the Geneva-2 conference would be convened as soon as possible. The state will succeed in reaching agreement. Iran should be one of the countries, which will take a decision,” Annan said.

There is no need to sidestep all responsibility on the U.N. for the situation in Syria, former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan asserted.

By presenting his book, “Interventions: A Life in War and Peace”, in Moscow on Monday, Annan said he took part in solving the crisis in Syria as a mediator.

 “In Geneva in June 2012 we adopted the communique on the need to settle the crisis by political means. Measures should be taken to stop the chaos. A year later an idea was put forth to convene a new conference on Syria in Geneva,” Annan said.

 “I said the political efforts, including from President Barack Obama, were indispensable. Then progress can be achieved,” he said.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the “militants” operating in Syria are foreign nationals.

Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs, stressing that inclusive dialogue and national reconciliation are the keys to resolving the crisis  in Syria.

M.D