The United States is working to avoid the “total destruction” of Syria, and plans a meeting in the coming days with Russian, Saudi and Turkish leaders to seek an end to the conflict, secretary of stat
The United States is working to avoid the “total destruction” of Syria, and plans a meeting in the coming days with Russian, Saudi and Turkish leaders to seek an end to the conflict, secretary of state John Kerry said Monday.
“I will be coming back in a few days and I will meet with leaders of Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to work through... Options that could perhaps reignite the political process and bring about a political transition in Syria,” he said on a stop in Madrid.
In Moscow a source cited by the Ria Novosti news agency said a meeting between Mr Kerry and the foreign ministers of Russia and Saudi Arabia — who back opposing sides in Syria’s war — could be held “soon” in Vienna.
Washington considers that it bears the responsibility “to try and avoid the complete and total destruction of Syria”, fearing the potential fallout across the region and a possible surge in migration, Mr Kerry said in Madrid.
“We have a moral interest to try and stop this unfolding catastrophe,” he said following talks with Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.
Russia’s military, meanwhile, said Monday that its jets hit an Islamic State (ISIS) training camp and command post of Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in Syria as they bombed 49 targets in the latest wave of strikes. Moscow says it has hit some 500 “terrorist” targets since launching a bombing campaign in Syria on September 30 in support of forces loyal to its long-standing ally President Bashar al-Assad, but so far the effect on the ground appears negligible.
Russia insists it is targeting ISIS and other groups it deems “terrorist” but the United States and its allies say it is mainly hitting more moderate rebels battling Mr Assad.
Separately, eight people were killed and many wounded on Monday when Lebanon’s Army targeted militant positions along the eastern border with war-torn Syria, security sources told AFP. “The Lebanese Army targeted militants on the border” with Syria, a security source said.
A separate security source said a “helicopter fired a missile at takfiri (extremist Sunni) positions in Wadi Hmeid”, on the eastern outskirts of the border town of Arsal.
He said eight people were killed and “a large number” of others wounded, but he could not say if the dead were militants or civilians. The Lebanese Army has battled militants along the border with Syria for over a year in sometimes bloody clashes. The border area is also home to informal refugee camps.
