Summit on Syria Conflict Cancelled - East Idaho News
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Summit on Syria Conflict Cancelled

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GETTY 11613 SyriaFlag?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1383731043497iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The plan to hold a summit on Nov. 23 that might lead to a peaceful resolution of the 32-month long conflict in Syria has gone up in smoke.

United Nations-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi admitted as much Tuesday following meetings with senior diplomats from the U.S. and Russia.

There were hopes that the conference dubbed “Geneva 2” might occur as scheduled but the intransigence of both President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and opposition groups ruined that possibility.

Now, Brahimi says he’s “striving” for a conference by the end of 2013 although that deadline may have to be moved as well.

The envoy acknowledged that “the situation in Syria is extremely bad,” with the death toll piling up and at least 6,000 people fleeing the country daily to escape violence.

Both Damascus and its foes have preconditions for attending the summit that they refuse to budge on.  Assad’s regime wants all rebel forces to lay down their arms while opposition groups are demanding that the president leave office.

Washington and Moscow are also at odds over Iran’s possible presence at any peace negotiation.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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