Russia reiterates support to Brahimi mission

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov reiterated Monday his country's backing to the UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria Lakhadr Brahimi's mission. In a joint press conference with Brahimi here, Lavrov said Geneva accord should be a base for peaceful settlement for the bloody conflict in Syria. The UN-sponsored Geneva June 30th agreement between China and Russia, which are close allies to Bashar Al-Assad, and Arab and Western countries which support Syrian opposition calls for immediate stop of bloodshed and start of negotiations between the regime and opposition over the transitional period. For his part, Brahimi voiced regret that the four-day Eid Al-Adha ceasefire had not worked better. Asked whether UN peacekeepers might be sent to Syria, he said there was no immediate plan for that. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition watchdog, 420 people have been killed since Friday. Death toll of the Syrian crisis is estimated to have surpassed 30,500 so far, with the country on the verge of a full-blown civil war, as thousands of citizens flee the country to neighboring Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.