UN Security Council’s delegation arrives in Syria

SANA, the news agency affiliated with the transitional government in Syria, reported that the Security Council representatives, accompanied by Syria’s permanent UN delegate Ibrahim Alabi and UN Deputy Special Envoy to Syria Nagat Rushdi, entered Syria via the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing with Lebanon.

This visit is the first since the fall of the Ba’ath regime. According to the agency, the delegation will meet with officials from the transitional government as well as representatives from civil society, while Lebanon will be their second stop on the tour.

Upon arrival, the delegation headed to Jobar, one of the largest neighborhoods destroyed during the war around Damascus, to assess the "extent of the damage and destruction it has suffered."

The delegation’s arrival coincides with UN efforts to reestablish its presence in Syria after the Security Council recently lifted imposed sanctions. The United Nations has called for a comprehensive transitional process in Syria following nearly 14 years of devastating conflict.

Slovenian UN Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, whose country currently chairs the Security Council this month, said at a press conference on Monday that this is "the first official Security Council visit to the Middle East in six years, and the first ever to Syria."

He explained that the tour comes "at a critical time," amid efforts by the new authorities to consolidate the transitional phase in Syria, and the "challenges" obstructing the ceasefire that has been in place for a year in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Žbogar noted that the visit is important to "show support and solidarity with both countries (Syria and Lebanon), understand the ongoing challenges, and convey the Council’s messages regarding the path it wants the countries to follow in the upcoming phase."

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Tuesday that the United Nations "strongly hopes that the visit will help enhance dialogue between the UN and Syria.”

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ANHA