Syria cease-fire: Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pushes for end to violence

July 31, 2016

By Talia Ralph

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad, right, welcomes international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to Damascus airport on October 19, 2012. Brahimi bids to secure a ceasefire in Syria’s 19-month conflict following his regional tour to countries that play influential roles in the crisis.
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Syria's cease-fire talks between UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem were underway in the capital of Damascus Saturday, as violence continued unabated throughout the country.

Brahimi, who also represents the Arab league, is attempting to broker a truce between the Syrian regime and rebel forces in time for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha next week, according to BBC News.

Brahimi is also expected to hold talks with Assad as well as opposition leaders, FARS News agency reported.

Countries including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Germany have pledged their support for the cease-fire, but neither side has agreed yet, the Associated Press reported. Past efforts to stop the ongoing violence in Syria have failed, in large part due to impasses within the Security Council.

A Foreign Ministry statement released after the meeting Saturday said the two men discussed "objective and rational circumstances to stop the violence from any side in order to prepare for a comprehensive dialog among the Syrians," but did not mention a cease-fire, according to the AP.

The UN envoy did not comment on the talks.

Brahimi's talks with Syria's foreign minister come as over 70 bodies, including many women, children and elderly people, were found in a cemetery in the city of Deir Ezzor in what the rebels are calling a massacre, UPI reported. Many of the cadavers reportedly show signs of being tortured.