Syrian envoy to the United Nations, Staffan de Mistura said on Monday that Syria is heading for a catastrophic partition which could lead to the return of the Islamic terror group known as the ISIS/ISIL if an inclusive agreement is not reached. Speaking at Geneva’s Graduate Institute he said, “The truth is that a soft, long-term partition of Syria, which (is) the one that we are witnessing at the moment, in different areas of control, will be a catastrophe, not only for Syria but for the whole region….. Without an inclusive political process, including those who are excluded, particularly the majority, the Sunnis, Daesh will come back.”
Showing a map of Syria with different colors for different territory held by different parties, Mistura said, “This is fragmentation, this is, in fact, a country which has areas under the influence of other countries…..This is not sustainable, he added. “I believe at end of day Syria has to remain unified.”
He also highlighted the real problem of Sunni-Shia conflict to be behind every disturbance in the region, “Much of what we are seeing in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen is connectable to the tectonic fight between one country and another: Iran and Saudi Arabia, Shia and Sunni. We cannot hide it.” He said that he believes that peace talks between these two countries would have an immediate impact in the region.
