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U.N. official says Syria "at a crossroads," urges inclusive transition and halt to coastal attacks
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Summary
At a public Security Council briefing, United Nations official Garrett Pedersen warned that recent coastal violence, foreign interference and continued attacks risk pushing Syria toward renewed instability and called for an inclusive transitional process, a stop to Israeli strikes and international political and economic support.
United Nations official Garrett Pedersen warned Tuesday that recent violence on Syria's coast, ongoing foreign interference and continued strikes risk worsening the country's instability and urged international support for an inclusive transition.
"What happened... on the coast is not only extremely alarming, it's disturbing, you know, unacceptable," Pedersen said during a public question-and-answer session introduced by a moderator who identified him as having briefed the Security Council. He said an investigation of the coastal incident is under way and that authorities and international partners should await a proper result.
Pedersen said there is an "agreement in principle" between authorities in Syria's northeast and the caretaker authorities in Damascus to address issues in the northeast, and he called for that dialogue to continue with backing from Turkey and the United States. "So what we need to see is that the investigation that is now ongoing on the coast... that the continued dialogue between the caretaker authorities in Damascus and the Northeast... continues, and that it is supported by Turkey and The United States," he said.
He pressed for a halt to Israeli strikes, saying, "we need to see a stop in Israeli attacks." Pedersen added that a successful transition would require a genuinely inclusive constitutional process. He said a constitutional committee should be "representative of all Syrians" so that a new social contract can be developed drawing on "best international practices." "Extremely important that that committee is representative of all Syrians," he said.
On security-sector issues, Pedersen identified disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and comprehensive security-sector reform as necessary parts of Syria's future stability. He said the fate of foreign fighters is tied to broader security-sector discussions and that he will continue to raise the issue with caretaker and transitional authorities.
When a questioner summarized that the caretaker government had agreed to phase out foreign fighters "in the future," Pedersen declined to confirm that representation. "No. I think you have to ask them about that. I didn't say that," he said.
Pedersen also referred to a recent unanimous Security Council statement addressing foreign fighters and said the caretaker authorities had taken notice of that statement. He urged mobilization of "real international support... both political and economic" to help ensure a transitional process that reduces the risk of renewed large-scale conflict. "Syria stands at the crossroads. It could go bad, but that should be in no one's interest," he said.
The briefing included questions from multiple interlocutors and closed with expressions of thanks from the moderator. No formal decisions or votes were recorded during the session.
