UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION, April 5 (Itar-Tass) — U.N./LAS Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan has informed delegates of the U.N. General Assembly about his mediation efforts, the General Assembly’s press service told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
The briefing will begin at 6 p.m. Moscow time and will be held in the format of a video conference from Geneva. Delegates will have an opportunity to ask questions to Annan.
According spokesman for the chairman of the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly Nihal Saad, Annan will inform about the situation in Syria and his mission. Special attention will be paid to the details of an agreement reached by Annan with the Syrian leadership in Damascus on conditions for the implementation of the settlement plan, including six points.
On Monday, April 2, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the Syrian Armed Forces “will begin withdrawing its troops from the settlements of the country immediately and complete the withdrawal by April 10”. Annan urged the U.N. Security Council “to determine April 10 as the deadline of the withdrawal of Syrian troops. By taking into account the difficult situation, it is necessary to start discussions on deploying a U.N. observer mission”.
On Tuesday, the United States submitted a draft statement to the U.N. Security Council that says the U.S. demands the Syrian government begin carrying out its obligations immediately and implement them not later than April 10, 2012. In the draft statement the U.N. Security Council provides its full support for Annan’s proposal in order to immediately cease violence and human rights violations, to get access for rendering humanitarian aid to the population and to contribute to the political peace process, and start a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and all groups of the opposition.
The draft statement also stresses the importance of creating an efficient and reliable mechanism to ensure control over the implementation of Annan’s settlement plan.