The Second Conference of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People was held in Istanbul on Sunday. 82 countries along with the representatives from the United Nations, The League of Arab States, The European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the African Union took part in the meeting.
The group has supported Kofi Annan’s peace mission and asked him to prepare a time frame in case the killings continue. It has recognized, Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Syrian regime to implement UN peace plan to end the violence or face serious consequences.
the Second Conference of the Friends of Syria Group in Istanbul extended full support to Kofi Annan’s peace mission and called upon the Syrian regime to immediately halt the violence and comply with UN peace plan. The group urged the UN Special envoy to prepare a time line for next steps.
It added that in case the killings continue, matter should be referred back to the UN security Council. In a major development, Friends Of Syria group granted legitimacy to the Syrian National Council. It recognized the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of all Syrians and the umbrella organization. The Friends of Syria nations and agencies said they were committed to provide funding and financial assistance to meet the needs of Syrian people.
However the in the final communique there is no mention of arming the rebels or creation of a buffer zone along the Syrian border as demanded by some of the countries. The next meeting of the Friends of Syria group will be held in France.