This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/world/middleeast/syria-conflict-developments.html
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| U.N. Envoy Calls for a Transitional Government in Syria | U.N. Envoy Calls for a Transitional Government in Syria |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, on a mission to Damascus seeking an end to the escalating civil conflict in Syria, said Thursday that a transitional government should be granted full executive powers until President Bashar al-Assad’s term ends in 2014. | MOSCOW — The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, on a mission to Damascus seeking an end to the escalating civil conflict in Syria, said Thursday that a transitional government should be granted full executive powers until President Bashar al-Assad’s term ends in 2014. |
| Mr. Brahimi’s remarks to journalists, reported by news agencies, follow intensive talks this week with Mr. Assad and a range of opposition figures. | Mr. Brahimi’s remarks to journalists, reported by news agencies, follow intensive talks this week with Mr. Assad and a range of opposition figures. |
| Over the past month, Mr. Brahimi, as special representative from the United Nations and Arab League, has consulted extensively with both the United States and Russia in hopes of fulfilling of an accord reached in Geneva this summer calling for dialogue between Syria’s government and the opposition. | Over the past month, Mr. Brahimi, as special representative from the United Nations and Arab League, has consulted extensively with both the United States and Russia in hopes of fulfilling of an accord reached in Geneva this summer calling for dialogue between Syria’s government and the opposition. |
| “The Syrian people seek genuine change,” he said. He emphasized the importance of preserving state institutions and warned that military intervention would “lead to the destruction of the Syrian state” according to Russia’s ITAR-TASS news service. | “The Syrian people seek genuine change,” he said. He emphasized the importance of preserving state institutions and warned that military intervention would “lead to the destruction of the Syrian state” according to Russia’s ITAR-TASS news service. |
| “There will be no victor in this war,” he said. | “There will be no victor in this war,” he said. |
| As a Syrian government delegation met with Russia’s top diplomats in Moscow, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, said there was no specific plan under discussion that would envisage a transitional government. Opposition figures have suggested that Mr. Brahimi presented Mr. Assad with offers either to cede some of his authority or to leave the country, but Mr. Lukashevich denied that. “There was and is no plan, it is not being discussed with Mr. Brahimi or with American colleagues,” he said. | As a Syrian government delegation met with Russia’s top diplomats in Moscow, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, said there was no specific plan under discussion that would envisage a transitional government. Opposition figures have suggested that Mr. Brahimi presented Mr. Assad with offers either to cede some of his authority or to leave the country, but Mr. Lukashevich denied that. “There was and is no plan, it is not being discussed with Mr. Brahimi or with American colleagues,” he said. |
| Russia, a key ally of the government in Damascus, has long pointed to the Geneva agreement, which calls for negotiation between the government and the opposition, as the only acceptable basis for resolving the conflict. | Russia, a key ally of the government in Damascus, has long pointed to the Geneva agreement, which calls for negotiation between the government and the opposition, as the only acceptable basis for resolving the conflict. |
| But the agreement requires both Mr. Assad’s allies and Syrian opposition forces to agree to negotiate — a long shot, said Dmitri V. Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. | But the agreement requires both Mr. Assad’s allies and Syrian opposition forces to agree to negotiate — a long shot, said Dmitri V. Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. |
| Earlier this year, he said, influential policy makers in Moscow favored a process like the one that led to the Dayton accords to end the Bosnian war of the 1990s: “Bring them together, close the door and don’t let them out until they reach an agreement.” He said he had serious doubts that either Moscow or Washington could induce the two sides to sit down at the table. | Earlier this year, he said, influential policy makers in Moscow favored a process like the one that led to the Dayton accords to end the Bosnian war of the 1990s: “Bring them together, close the door and don’t let them out until they reach an agreement.” He said he had serious doubts that either Moscow or Washington could induce the two sides to sit down at the table. |
| “Frankly, I see very little leverage that Russia has over Assad,” Mr. Trenin said. “Even if the United States were prepared to lean hard on the opposition, or push them toward some kind of negotiation, I do not see the Gulf states or the Turks backing that move.” | “Frankly, I see very little leverage that Russia has over Assad,” Mr. Trenin said. “Even if the United States were prepared to lean hard on the opposition, or push them toward some kind of negotiation, I do not see the Gulf states or the Turks backing that move.” |
| In recent weeks, Mr. Lukashevich said Thursday, Moscow has ratcheted up its diplomacy in an effort to “intensify dialogue, not only with the government but also with the opposition groups.” Top Russian officials met Thursday with Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal al-Meqdad. Mr. Brahimi will have his own meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in Moscow on Saturday. | In recent weeks, Mr. Lukashevich said Thursday, Moscow has ratcheted up its diplomacy in an effort to “intensify dialogue, not only with the government but also with the opposition groups.” Top Russian officials met Thursday with Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Faisal al-Meqdad. Mr. Brahimi will have his own meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in Moscow on Saturday. |
| Mr. Lukashevich said Russia was open to talks with Syria’s national opposition coalition, which has been recognized by many Western governments as representing the Syrian people. | Mr. Lukashevich said Russia was open to talks with Syria’s national opposition coalition, which has been recognized by many Western governments as representing the Syrian people. |
| “We are not rejecting this dialogue,” he said. “On the contrary, we are holding it very vigorously with all opposition groups who are also interested in getting better insight into the Russian approach.” | “We are not rejecting this dialogue,” he said. “On the contrary, we are holding it very vigorously with all opposition groups who are also interested in getting better insight into the Russian approach.” |
| “It is obviously another question when and at what level they will take place,” he said. | “It is obviously another question when and at what level they will take place,” he said. |
| Among the widely discussed sticking points for a possible transition plan is what role, if any, Mr. Assad and his allies would play in the process. Among the options being floated this week are an arrangement that would allow him to remain in office for most or all of the rest of his presidential term, which ends in 2014, but transferring much of his authority to a transitional body. A separate question is whether the agreement would allow him to run for re-election in 2014. | Among the widely discussed sticking points for a possible transition plan is what role, if any, Mr. Assad and his allies would play in the process. Among the options being floated this week are an arrangement that would allow him to remain in office for most or all of the rest of his presidential term, which ends in 2014, but transferring much of his authority to a transitional body. A separate question is whether the agreement would allow him to run for re-election in 2014. |
| Mr. Lukashevich said the Geneva agreement did not establish Mr. Assad’s departure as a precondition for talks. As for Mr. Assad’s ability to run for re-election, he said, Russia had no role in determining this. | |
| “We are not lawyers for this regime,” he said. “We would prefer that the Syrians themselves should determine the form and prospects for their state’s further development, and to get away from the horrible prospect of the collapse of the state along religious lines. So the question is more to the Syrians than to the Russians.” | |
Ellen Barry reported from Moscow, and Kareem Fahim from Beirut, Lebanon. | Ellen Barry reported from Moscow, and Kareem Fahim from Beirut, Lebanon. |