At a joint press conference with Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci in Algiers on Monday, El-Arabi said that a political solution in Syria cannot take effect without a ceasefire, AFP reported.
“There’s now an international consensus on two points — a global ceasefire and the start of a political process… A political solution cannot be considered separately from today’s goal of achieving a ceasefire,” he said.
He also spoke about UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria, saying that the initiative has helped to contain the violence.
Meanwhile, reports coming out of Syria say foreign-backed armed groups have not stopped conducting deadly attacks.
Armed gangs killed three military officials in the city of Hama and also killed a physician in Dara’a on Monday, a day after UN observers visited the cities to monitor the implementation of Annan’s peace plan.
The UN observers also visited the crisis-hit cities of Rastan and Homs on Sunday.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since early 2011. Calm has returned to most parts of the country since a ceasefire came into effect on April 12, though there have been reports of sporadic clashes in some areas, with Damascus accusing armed groups of violating the truce by continuing attacks on government forces.
The first group of UN observers arrived in Damascus on April 16.
On April 21, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution to send a mission of 300 observers to Syria.
AS/HGL
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