Ibrahimi: Syria’s Situation Deteriorating, Gov’t Estimated 5000 Foreign Fighters

Local Editor

UN envoy to Damascus al-Akhdar Ibrahimi warned that "the situation is deteriorating in Syria."

Ibrahimi made the remarks in New York on Monday after briefing the UN Security Council on his mid-September talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He also stated that there are food shortages as harvests have been destroyed in the fighting between government forces and insurgents, adding that 200 of Syria's 2,200 schools have been damaged.

The international envoy further estimated that 1.5 million Syrians have fled their homes due to the 18-month conflict.
In parallel, he informed the Security Council that the Syrian government estimates there are 5,000 foreign fighters in the country, AFP reported.

"There is no disagreement anywhere that the situation in Syria is extremely bad and getting worse, that it is a threat to the region," Ibrahimi said outside the council.
He said the situation remains at a stalemate and "extremely difficult," with no prospect to move forward "today or tomorrow."

At the same time, Ibrahimi said he still held out hope for a solution, and told the council that "paradoxically now that I have found out a little more about what is happening in the country and the region, I think that we will find an opening in the not too distant future."
"I refuse to believe that reasonable people do not see that you cannot go backward, that you cannot go back to the Syria of the past," he added.

Ibrahimi also clarified that he has not yet crafted "a full plan" but he did have some ideas which he hopes to expand on after another visit to the region.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org