The UN secretary-general on Monday said the participation of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the proposed Syria peace talks in Geneva remains a stumbling block that has not yet been resolved.
Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he expected both the Syrian government and the opposition groups to send delegations to the talks, planned for this summer. He praised the American-Russian peace initiative to bring Assad and rebel representatives to the table as “the best chance for a lasting solution that will deliver peace and save lives.”
Ban said that some nations remain divided whether to invite Iran and Saudi Arabia, who have been supporting the warring sides in the civil war.
“On Syria, there is an urgent need for the violence to end. Far too many lives have been lost already and the conflict has generated a huge and heart-rending humanitarian crisis,” he said in Geneva.
To date, nearly 100,000 Syrians have been killed in the two-year civil war, a million have fled the country and as many are estimated to be internally displaced.
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