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UN special envoy for Syria expected to take part in Astana meeting

Kazakhstan’s capital will host the 21st international meeting on Syria as part of the Astana process based on a collective request by the guarantor countries

ASTANA, January 22. /TASS/. The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen is expected to take part in an international meeting on Syria in Astana on January 24-25, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said.

"We are in contact with his secretariat; he is most likely to take part [in the meeting," he said at a briefing in response to a TASS question.

Kazakhstan’s capital will host the 21st international meeting on Syria as part of the Astana process based on a collective request by the guarantor countries. Delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as both the Syrian government and opposition, will take part in the negotiations. Representatives of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, the United Nations, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross are also expected to attend the meeting as observers. The meeting’s agenda includes issues related to the regional situation around Syria, efforts to find a comprehensive solution to the Syria issue, the humanitarian situation in the country and ways to step up the international community’s efforts to facilitate its post-conflict reconstruction.

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United Nations Kazakhstan

Middle East conflict

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