‘Syria violence will derail peace talks’

Geneva: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Thursday she feared that bloodshed in recent battles for the Syrian town of Qusayr would be repeated in the city of Aleppo and undermine peace efforts.

Pillay’s office said earlier that it had documented at least 93,000 deaths in Syria by the end of April. “I am concerned that what happened in Qusayr will happen in Aleppo. All the reports I’m receiving are of augmentation of resources and forces on the part of the government,” Pillay told Reuters television. “It’s hardly a scenario and a proper stage for negotiations at this stage. “Would you begin negotiations with people who are intent on emerging as victors out of violent struggle?” she asked.

International envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi will meet US and Russian officials on June 25 to discuss plans for peace talks which Brahimi has said he hopes to hold in Geneva in July. “Brahimi is ready,” Pillay said. “It needs the resolve of political actors to get to that table.”