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Ban Ki-Moon

UNITED NATIONS. — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday announced that the Geneva II conference on Syria will be held on January 22, 2014. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban made the announcement and expressed deep appreciation to the initiating states, Russia and the United States, as well as to other UN member states and special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi for their hard work “that has brought us to this point.”

“We will go to Geneva with a mission of hope,” Ban said, stressing that the conference is “the vehicle” for a peaceful transition that fulfills the legitimate aspirations of all the Syrian people for freedom and dignity, and which guarantees safety and protection to all communities in Syria.

“Its goal is the full implementation of the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012, including the establishment, based on mutual consent, of a transitional governing body with full executive powers, including over military and security entities,” said the statement.

The UN chief expected that the Syrian representatives will come to Geneva “with a clear understanding that this is the objective, and with a serious intention” to end the war that has already left well over 100,000 people dead, displaced almost 9 million others, and sent tremors through the region.

Noting the Security Council’s endorsement of the full implementation of the Geneva Communique in Resolution 2118, Ban called on all regional and international partners to demonstrate their meaningful support for constructive negotiations, said the statement.

Adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on June 30, 2012, the Geneva Communique lays out key steps in a process to end the violence, which has been going on for more than 30 months.

Among others, it calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers and made up by members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.

“All must show vision and leadership,” Ban stressed in the statement. “The conflict in Syria has raged for too long. It would be unforgivable not to seize this opportunity to bring an end to the suffering and destruction it has caused.”

“All can begin working now to take steps to help the Geneva conference succeed, including toward the cessation of violence, humanitarian access, release of detainees and return of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people to their homes,” he said.

Following talks in Moscow between US and Russian foreign ministers in May, the two countries announced they would work together to achieve a political solution to the Syria crisis, and agreed to convene another international conference in Geneva aimed at achieving that goal. — Xinhua.