UN's Syria envoy defends faltering 'freeze' policy

UN's Syria envoy defends faltering 'freeze' policy
Four years of conflict has killed at least 220,000 people, created approximately 3.2m refugees and around 30 million Syrians are dependent on external aid. The UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura, gives his assessment.
4 min read
05 March, 2015
Aleppans are still digging their dead out of the rubble as the freeze fails (getty)
"Perhaps Aleppo was not ripe," conceded the UN special envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura while discussing his plan for 'a freeze' on the use of heavy weapons in the city.

Despite recent setbacks he argued it did not discount the need to give it a push and "try and make it ripe", while also finding opportunities for local deals elsewhere in the country.

The UN pointman tasked with turning "mission impossible" into something "potentially doable" outlined his vision to an audience in London while his signature policy of local freezes was looking more fragile than ever.
     Anyone with military capacity can reduce suffering and loss of life

Syrian rebel forces in Aleppo on Sunday rejected de Mistura's plan for a freeze in fighting and heavy artillery and aerial bombardment continue in the battered city. 

"We refuse to meet with Mr Staffan de Mistura if it is not on the basis of a comprehensive solution to Syria's drama through the exit of Bashar al-Assad and his chief of staff, and the prosecution of war criminals," a newly-formed Aleppo revolutionary commission said.

De Mistura shared their concerns but asserted that it is important to have a "signature success" while also pursuing similar deals in embattled areas such as Ghouta, Deraa and beyond.

The scope of the freeze policy has been rolled back a number of times since being launched and there is currently a UN team in Aleppo to negotiate with the different players and assess how and in what form they could realise an agreement.  

Closing ranks

Meanwhile the Syrian opposition has been trying to unite ranks to stand against the challenges from both the government and the Islamic State group.

Khaled Khoja, who became president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in January, has been engaged in a number of high level meetings with opposition groups and foreign leaders.

"We have a new strategy which is based on taking the initiative and launching a dialogue between the coalition and other parties that aren't part of it," Khoja told Reuters news gency late on Wednesday after holding talks with De Mistura.
"The ultimate objective is to have a general assembly that includes all parties who want a new Syria and have a common stance towards any negotiation process with the regime based on the Geneva 1 agreements."
     It is necessary to end the process with a new regime and a new free Syria


The Geneva conference in June 2012 settled on the necessity to create a "transitional government body with full executive powers" which could include members of the present Syrian government and of the opposition.

Less than a week ago Khoja met in Paris with the domestic National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCCDC) and for the first time in Syria's war, the two groups agreed on a draft roadmap for future negotiations with the government.

Dissident groups more closely aligned with the regime have been bought into the fold to try and create a unified front.

The SNC under Khoja has also softened its stance on the conditions for negotiations by no longer insisting on the removal of President Bashar al-Assad's as a pre-condition.

The opposition group does however maintain that it is "necessary to end the process with a new regime and a new free Syria".

The change of stance towards Assad's potential role in negotiations reflects recent statements made by De Mistura that Assad is "part of the solution".

The UN representative came under considerable flack for his statements, coming just two days after he visited the Iranian embassy, which is the most influential regional backer of the Syrian government. 
 
"Anyone with military capacity can reduce suffering and loss of life,” said De Mistura during his London address in reference to the comments .

     Wait, wait and see what will be the outcome


While pursuing an "inclusive" approach with as many stakeholders on board as possible the UN is not in direct contact with IS but De Mistura concedes, "There will be a time when we will have to make informal contacts but at the moment we are not talking to them".

Baby steps amid the suffering

For now the policy appears to be to try and stymie the killing and maiming while baby-steps are made on the political track, although no serious peace process exists. 

Opposition groups have been trying to build consensus among themselves in Cairo while the government has been engaging some elements of the opposition in Moscow. 

Gaping divisions remain but the entrenchment of IS in both Iraq and Syria has given impetus to both the opposition and government to find some room for accomodation. The extreme militant group, and the reaction to it, is according to De Mistura, "a game changer".

The UN is for now pursuing the policy of freezes to try and slow the killing and allow the access of humanitarian aid while opening channels of communication between the warring sides. 

If the political discussions in Moscow, Cairo and Paris come to bear any fruit then the UN will "pick up the pieces" and move the negotiations forward. 

Although he has no shortage of detractors De Mistura argued his main concern was that the UN would become irrelevant. "Wait, wait and see what will be the outcome," he urged.