(LPAC)—Kofi Annan will reportedly propose on June 7, at the special session of the 15-nation UN Security Council, the formation of a "contact group", in order to prevent a total collapse of his earlier plan for a truce and negotiated political solution in Syria. The "contact group" would include Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and key regional players with influence on Syria’s government or the opposition, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.
Almost simultaneous to this announcement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave a call on Wednesday for a broader international meeting on the crisis in Syria. The participants of this meeting will also include different groups, such as Turkey, Iran, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the EU.
Lavrov’s proposal is in sync with that of Annan’s, but a counter to the meeting that is about to take place in Ankara. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Turkey to talk "strategy" with her British, French, Turkish, and some Arab counterparts on June 6 and "discuss the situation in Syria," a Turkish diplomatic source told the Associate Press.
