CAIRO
The joint UN and Arab League envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi on Sunday met with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil al-Araby in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
Speaking at a joint press conference after a tete-a-tete meeting with al-Araby, Brahimi said that "the talks between an 'acceptable' delegation of members of the Assad regime who have not been involved in the bloodshed and Syrian opposition members would be the beginning of a process to end the Syrian crisis."
The first such meeting will take place at the UN, Brahimi underlined.
"While no date has been set up for the meeting, the initiative of the leader of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib was still on the table and had to be supported," Brahimi stressed.
Al-Khatib's initiative was a challenge to the Syrian government who always said they were ready for a peaceful solution, Brahimi noted.
Al-Khatib will pay a visit to Moscow next month, Brahimi emphasized.
Brahimi did not give any details on the date of al-Khatib's visit.
Turkey declared support to Brahimi's efforts
On the other hand, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that they always supported the efforts of the joint UN and Arab League envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Davutoglu's comments came in Istanbul after Brahimi made a call in Cairo to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition to meet "under the roof of the United Nations".
Turkey has always been close to a solution without guns, Davutoglu stressed.
We are now close to such a solution, Davutoglu also said.
