UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson delivers a speech at the on-going Global Consultation for the World Humanitarian Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 15, 2015. Eliasson has called for de-escalation of violence in Syria ahead of winter, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said here Thursday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN's Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, has called for de-escalation of violence in Syria ahead of winter, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said here Thursday.Eliasson made the appeal when he was speaking to the press in Geneva after his travels over the past several days to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, and Turkey, Haq said at a daily news briefing here.
"Asked about local ceasefires in Syria, the deputy secretary-general said that the United Nations would very much encourage every attempt to create local ceasefires," Haq said.
"In the absence of stopping the fighting all over the country, he said, we should at least now, before the winter starts, try to de-escalate and reduce the level of violence."
Eliasson said that "he had discussed the wars in Syria and Yemen as well as the situation in the Middle East region during his visits to those countries," the deputy spokesman said.
Syria and Yemen were among the hectic topics during the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, a week-long event held here late last month.
"Regarding Yemen, the deputy secretary-general said that he detected interest from Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE and Iran to encourage talks to start as soon as possible," Haq said.
"He noted that his special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is proposing talks within the next few weeks and added that we very much hope that these talks will take place," he added.
On Syria, he said, the officials he met with had discussed Russia's actions in Syria, and there was a hope expressed, particularly from the Saudis and the UAE, that that military action would be solely directed towards terrorism coming from the Islamic State.
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Terrorism benefits from on-going wars in Yemen, Syria: UN deputy head
GENEVA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN deputy head Jan Eliasson on Thursday warned that in fact terrorism has made gains because of the on-going wars both in Yemen and in Syria and the world is now in desperate need of ending this war.
Speaking to a press conference here, Eliasson, who just concluded a visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Turkey, said that though the terrorist threat must be dealt with first, the world community need simultaneously to move in the direction of political talks. Full story
