AFP, Rome, 13 Feb 2012 – Italy supports the deployment of a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission to put an end to the violence in Syria, Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said Monday.
‘Italy shares the urgency to stop every type of violence in Syria and, to that end, supports the proposal to send a joint United Nations and Arab League peacekeeping mission to check that the cease-fire is carried out,’ he said.
‘We hope for as large a consensus as possible from the international community,’ Terzi said.
‘Italy continues to strongly support the Arab League’s efforts to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the Syrian crisis’ and ‘welcomes the outcome of the foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo yesterday,’ he added.
Terzi stressed ‘Italy and the Arab League’s shared views on the need to assure the Syrian opposition strong political support.’
‘Encouraging the links between, and the unification of, the various elements is an absolute priority in order for a Syrian political process backed with the support of the international community to begin,’ he said.
The Arab League said it agreed on Sunday to open contacts with Syria’s opposition and to ask the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force to the unrest-swept country.
After marathon talks in Cairo, the 22-member bloc announced it had formally ended its own observer mission to Syria, which was suspended last month because of an upsurge in violence.
Syria ‘categorically’ rejected the Arab foreign ministers decision to back the Syrian opposition and call for a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping mission.