Envoy ponders US stance on Syria

MUNICH // UN envoy Staffan de Mistura yesterday questioned US president Donald Trump’s engagement in solving the Syrian war, just days ahead of a round of peace talks in Geneva.

“Where is the US in all this? I can’t tell you because I don’t know,” he said, adding that the new administration was still trying to work out its priorities on the conflict.

Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Mr de Mistura said the top three priorities for the US appeared to combating ISIL, how to curtail the influence of some “major regional players” and how to not damage one of their major allies in the region. “How you square this circle? That, I understand, is what they are discussing in Washington,” he said.

He did not say who the region- al players or major ally were but the first reference appeared to be to Iran, with the second either Turkey or Saudi Arabia.

Mr de Mistura stressed that what was ultimately essential was an inclusive political solution to end the six-year conflict.

“Even a ceasefire with two guarantors can’t hold too long if there is no political horizon,” he said, referring to a fragile truce brokered by Russia and Turkey in December.

Any political solution has to be inclusive to be credible, he said, emphsising that peace talks in Astana last week organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran, and the ceasefire deal, provided an opening that should be explored.

Also in Munich, the American US envoy for the anti-ISIL coalition, Brett McGurk, acknowledged that Mr Trump’s administration was “relooking at everything, which is a very healthy process from top to bottom. We will be very selfish about protecting and advancing our interests”. Under Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted president Bashar Al Assad had to go, putting it at odds with Moscow, which backs the Syrian leader. At the same time, Mr Trump has called for closer cooperation with Moscow to combat ISIL in Syria and Iraq, leaving open the Assad question.

For Anas Al Abdeh, who heads the opposition National Coalition, the question over Mr Al Assad’s future is a clear obstacle on the path for peace.

No solution can be found “as long as Assad remains in power,” he told the Munich forum. More than 310,000 people have died since a popular uprising in 2011 against Mr Al Assad morphed into civil war, with more than half the population forced to flee their homes.

A round of UN- led talks are scheduled for Geneva on February 23, involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives.

‘ Where is the US in all this? I can’t tell you because I don’t know Staffan de Mistura UN envoy