United Nations backing offers hope for solution to Syria

The church visit came at around the same time as the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved on Friday a resolution endorsing an global road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives.

“We know that Daesh can never be allowed to gain control in Syria so we have a global imperative here to deal with a terrorist entity but also to end the civil war”, he said.

Kerry also hosted a separate gathering of envoys from 20 countries in the International Syria Support Group that also sought ways to intensify the fight against the Islamic State, which holds large swaths of the country and has greatly exacerbated the war.

Any halt to hostilities would not apply to air strikes against so-called Islamic State (IS) – also known as Isis, Isil and Daesh – and other terrorist groups, it makes clear, amid fears they could otherwise benefit.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said: “UN Security Council Resolution 2254 is a very important step on the path to bringing the bad conflict in Syria to an end”.

Obama spoke as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a meeting of foreign ministers in NY to discuss a political settlement to the almost five year-old war.

“President Assad in our judgement has lost the ability, the credibility to be able to unite the country and to provide the moral credibility to be able to govern it”.

Obama said Assad’s remaining in power, after having chosen to “slaughter” his people rather than pursue an inclusive political transition, “is not feasible”.

“We have an unambiguous mandate with this United Nations resolution, including a time frame that envisions initial talks toward a cease-fire and the formation of a transitional government”, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said ON Saturday in Berlin after meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

The resolution calls the transition Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, stressing that the “Syrian people will decide the future of Syria”.

The resolution also calls for the United Nations to present the council with options for monitoring a ceasefire within one month.

Lavrov stressed that “terrorists of all stripes have no place in the talks” and said, “It is inadmissible to divide terrorists among good and bad ones”.

Kerry said that there were still sharp disagreements between the ISSG parties, some of which sponsor armed factions on the ground, as to which groups should be banned. Furthermore, the agency said, it would endorse the continued battle to defeat Islamic State militants.

Kerry made clear that there were still differences on the future of Assad, a close ally of Russian Federation and Iran who Western countries want ousted, as well as on the question of which Syrian opposition groups will have a seat at the table in talks with the government.

The UNSC plan was described as unrealistic by the Istanbul-based National Coalition, the main Syrian opposition grouping.