Moscow urges world community to bolster all-Syrian dialogue

The international community should bolster a dialogue between all of the parties of the Syrian conflict, Valery Loshchinin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office in Geneva said on Tuesday. "Russia believes that Syrians themselves should settle the situation in their country through an all-Syrian dialogue," the diplomat said at a UN Human Rights Council special session on the situation of human rights in Syria. The diplomat emphasized that the global community should assist the Syrian opposition and government to come to terms on necessary reforms. "The Russian leadership is ready to take additional energetic measures to push forward the process of political and socio-economical reforms," Loshchinin added. Syria has been rocked by mass protests demanding reforms and the resignation of President Bashar Assad for almost six months. Pressure from international powers has mounted to end the crackdown. According to UN investigators, some 2,200 civilians are thought to have been killed since protests began in the southern city of Deraa in mid-March. The Syrian government says over 500 servicemen and security officers were also killed. The UN Human Rights Council is drafting a resolution that "deplores the continuing indiscriminate attacks on its [Syrian] population" and seeks an immediate stop to "all acts of violence," the BBC reported on Monday.