Pakistan sees 'glimmer of hope' for govt-opposition dialogue for Syrian peace

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan sees a "glimmer of hope" for a dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition aimed at resolving the deadly two-year old internecine conflict in the Middle East country, Ambassador Masood Khan said Wednesday.

Speaking in the Security Council, the Pakistani ambassador said his hope for the was based on the recent statements of the Syrian opposition and the government for dialogue without preconditions.

"This opportunity must be seized by the Syrians, the United Nations and the European Union," he said in a debate on 'Cooperation Between the UN and Regional and Subregional Organizations."

"Full support to the efforts of the Secretary-General and Joint (UN-Arab League) Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi will help in making the Geneva Communique (the framework for resolving the crisis) operational and giving a fresh impetus to diplomacy," Ambassador Masood Khan added.

The ambassador spoke after a briefing given to the 15-member Council by European Union (EU) High Representative Catherine Ashton.

She told the Council members: "In carrying out your tasks, you can count on the full commitment and support of the EU."

Masood Khan praised EU's active role in the work of the United Nations. As Africa was a major focus of the Council's work, he said the European Union was providing support in many areas, as well as working in cooperation with lead African regional and subregional organizations, including the African Union.

Specifically, he said, the Mali and the Sahel region needed support and assistance on many fronts, especially the humanitarian situations.

While the European Union was addressing many relevant challenges in that region, Pakistan hoped the bloc would provide further support to the United Nations integrated strategy for the region.

The ambassador went on to welcome the major effort being undertaken by the European Union, and particularly by the High Representative herself, to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, he called for encouraging the diplomatic processes for a negotiated solution and he hoped the talks scheduled for later this month would yield more positive results.

As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said that with the two-State solution in 'freefall', the European Union, especially in light of its role as a main member of the diplomatic Quartet, had a special responsibility to help bring the parties to the table to relaunch the long-stalled negotiations.

Finally, Ambassador Masood Khan joined others in expressing support for continued cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations.