Security Council unity gives hope for Syria peace talks

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said Thursday that the new UN resolution on Syria 2328 has leant new momentum to UN-mediated efforts seeking to broker a political end to the Syrian conflict.

"Now is the time to relaunch the political process to make sure there is a momentum based on this renewed unity of the Security Council," Staffan de Mistura told reporters.

"On February 8, in Geneva, we are planning to relaunch the political intra-Syrian process under UN auspices," he added.

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted resolution 2328 to send UN observers to monitor evacuations in Aleppo, the first ever unanimously adopted resolution on the Syrian humanitarian issue.

While giving new-founded hope to resume peace talks which have been on hold since April, De Mistura stressed that humanitarian access and a nation-wide cessation of hostilities are also crucial.

This statement comes as the final evacuations out of the last rebel-held enclave in the northern city of Aleppo are being carried out.

According to Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria Jan Egeland, 35,000 people have been evacuated since operations kicked-off last week, with parallel evacuations also been taking place in the besieged Syrian towns of Foah and Kefraya.

Pursuant to the resolution, more UN staff is scheduled to arrive in Aleppo to monitor the situation on the ground.

Egeland said that it was crucial that the UN gain unfettered access to all areas in Syria to assist those most in need, especially civilians trapped in hard-to-reach and besieged areas.

"2017 needs to be a year where bureaucrats, armed men and security forces stop preventing humanitarians from reaching the exhausted, hungry, worn down civilians in this cruel war," he said.

"We're ready to do our job. Let us get access, let us have presence and thereby protection among the civilians," he added.

source: Xinhua