Russia, US prepare for conference on Syria

Moscow: Russian and US diplomats in charge of steering an international conference on Syria will discuss preparations early in November, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.
“The meeting is to be held on Nov 5,” Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying, Xinhua reported.
The diplomat said the participants of the meeting will discuss preparations for the Geneva-II conference aimed at ending a conflict that has killed 100,000 people since March 2011.
UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has been touring key states in the Middle East region, including Syria, is going to brief the participants on the results of his recent trip.
UN Under Secretary General for political affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Tuesday that the United Nations was “working hard” to convene an international conference on Syria in Geneva in mid-November.
The Geneva-I conference was held June 30, 2012 with the adoption of a communique, which sought to find a diplomatic resolution of Syria’s prolonged conflicts. (IANS)