UN Envoy Staffan De Mistura arrives in Lebanon

UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura arrived here on Sunday en route to neighboring war-torn Syria.

Coming from Geneva, De Mistura will head on Monday for Syria to hold talks with officials as part of his efforts to find a settlement for the still-unresolved conflict.

Mistura is the third U.N. special envoy trying to bring a negotiated end to the four-year conflict. He's trying to succeed where other seasoned diplomats have failed and have resigned in frustration.

More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Sunday's series of airstrikes on Douma was one of the bloodiest regime attacks in Syria's four-year civil war.

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien, had earlier said he was "horrified" by the strikes.

De Mistura said Sunday's attacks underscored the need to resume political dialogue to end the conflict that has claimed more than 240,000 lives.

"This conflict will have no military solution, as has been proven over the recent years," de Mistura said in a statement.

The U.N. envoy last month floated an idea to restart stalled peace talks, by inviting Syrians to take part in thematic working groups that could start in September.

Previous peace talks in Geneva collapsed in 2012 and 2014, but de Mistura told the Security Council that the UN had an obligation to keep the prospect of dialogue alive.
Source: MENA