Ibrahimi from Grand Serail: Efforts are underway to implement ceasefire in Syria

U.N. envoy to Syrian Akhdar Ibrahimi hoped that Eid al-Adha’s truce will pave the way for a solution to the Syran crisis, stressing that efforts are ongoing to implement a ceasefire in Syria.

Following his meeting with PM Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail, Ibrahimi said that he is visiting Syria’s neighboring countries for views on the region’s updates by officials. “These countries affect and are affected by the course of events in Syria”, he said.

Ibrahimi pointed out that all the statements he heard by both the Syrian government

and opposition in regards to Eid al-Adha’s ceasefire are “very promising.”         

For his part, Prime Minister Najib Mikati hoped that the efforts deployed in an attempt to end the violence in Syria will give the required results and yield a political solution for the crisis in Syria according the Syrian people's wishes.             

Mikati informed the UN-Arab league envoy Akhdar Ibrahimi that Lebanon supports his mission to end the Syrian conflict, "to stop the killing machine and to restore stability in Syria."               

"The Lebanese government has been committed to the dissociation policy since the beginning of the incidents in Syria, for three main reasons: the division among Lebanese parties regarding the Syrian issue, the historical, geographic and economic relations between Lebanon and Syria and the relation between Lebanon and the Arab world," Mikati added.               

The PM stressed that the Lebanese government is fulfilling its humanitarian duties towards the Syrian refugees, in cooperation with international organizations. However, the ongoing influx of refugees requires further support from the Arab and foreign states as well as humanitarian organizations, since "Lebanon is not capable of bearing such a burden alone," Mikati said.

Ibrahimi had arrived to Beirut, from his Cairo leg on Wednesday morning, for a short visit. Ibrahimi met with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace, House Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh and Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.

Among officials receiving him at Rafik Hariri international airport, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly and the Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Mira Daher.     
 
In this regard, Ibrahimi’s consultant Ahmad Fawzi told LBCI from Rafik Hariri International Airport that he hopes to reach a solution that would benefit the Syrian people and include immediate ceasefire.        

Ibrahimi appealed on Sunday to leaders in Iran, Assad's strongest regional ally, to support a truce during Eid al-Adha which starts around October 25. He has also visited Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt before heading to Beirut for a short visit.       


REUTERS/LBCI

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