February 5, 2016

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Lies About Cause of Collapse of Geneva III Talks

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's comments about the Syrian peace talks have not been helpful. Attributing the collapse of the talks to one side only is a betrayal of the Syrian people and of the principles of justice and fairness that the United Nations was supposedly created to uphold.

An excerpt from, "Ban blames Russia for collapse of Syria talks" by Sam Jones, FT, February 5, 2016:
Devastating Russian air raids in Syria last week caused the collapse of peace talks in Geneva, said UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon as he warned that an immediate ceasefire was needed if the fragile diplomatic process to end the civil war was to have any hope of proceeding. 

“As soon as the [Geneva] meeting was convened, aerial bombing continued and the ground operation started in Aleppo,” Mr Ban said in an interview with the Financial Times in London. “It was extremely difficult for Staffan de Mistura [UN envoy for Syria] to continue at this time.”

Mr Ban’s comments, made as UN diplomats rush to salvage the peace process, come at a critical juncture for Syria’s rebels.