The impossible exercise. The end of the observer mission in Syria

(BRUSSELS2) The news was expected. Mission impossible, end in the shape of a fishtail, with a feeling of unfinished business. The Security Council terminated the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). Deployed since last April to ensure a ceasefire that never materialized, most of the observers will have left Damascus by Monday morning, leaving only a "liaison office" which will be headed by an Algerian diplomat, Lakhdar Brahimi.

The logical continuation of the impossible mission

This expected decision follows the Council resolution of July 20, which extended the UN mandate by 30 days and could only extend this mission again if “the cessation of the use of heavy weapons, as well as a reduction in the level of violence by all parties have not materializedas Ban Ki-moon had indicated last week in a letter to the President of the Council. The 300 unarmed observers originally deployed and placed under the command of General Robert Mood had been gradually reduced to 101 soldiers and 72 civilians. The Council thus came to the conclusion that UNSMIS no longer had a raison d'être. During these closed-door consultations, the Under-Secretary explained to the 15 members of the Council that the two parties have made the choice tofight a war».

A liaison office

However, following Ban Ki-moon's recommendations, it was necessary to maintain a presence on the ground. This liaison office, if it is accepted by Damascus, should therefore be administered by the Department of Political Affairs and made up of 20 to 30 people, including military advisers, even if its mandate has yet to be defined. "The maintenance of a United Nations presence in Syria, which would go beyond the essential humanitarian action carried out by the United Nations system, would make it possible to have systematic and constructive relations with the Syrian parties, to solicit their views and involve them in building a future of peacewrites the secretary general. French Ambassador Gérard Araud, who chairs the Council in August, for his part simply indicated that this office would aim to help Kofi Annan's successor as Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations. and the Arab League to fulfill its role of mediating and facilitating a peaceful solution.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Gennady Gatilov, for his part asked that the Action Group on Syria be activated and move forward on the bases of the Geneva meeting (June 30). Moscow also called on the major powers to join Saudi Arabia and Iran in appealing to the Syrian government and the opposition to end the conflict in Syria. Meanwhile, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister should receive next Tuesday (August 21) the second visit of a Syrian delegation, led by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers for Economic Affairs, Kadri Jamil. Beijing has at the same time called on the belligerents "to quickly establish a ceasefire to end the violence and start a political dialogue ».

Balance sheet of the conflict: 23.000 victims

While fighting and shelling are concentrated in Aleppo, Damascus and Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights currently counts at least 23.000 casualties since the start of the conflict 17 months ago.