Alwaght- United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura said Friday the Syrian people, not foreigners, should decide the fate of their President Bashar al-Assad.
"Can't we leave the Syrians to actually decide on that? Why should we be saying in advance what the Syrians should say, as long as they have the freedom and the opportunity of saying so?" de Mistura told France 24 TV.
"We say that it is supposed to be a solution Syrian-led, Syrian-owned," he added.
De Mistura also expressed optimism about a truce that came into force in Syria last Saturday, despite sporadic breaches.
"Yesterday, there were four people killed. Very sad," he said. "But do you know how many were dying just two weeks ago? Up to 120 per day. An average of between 60 and 80 every day."
"How many people were being reached by humanitarian aid in the 18 besieged areas? Zero. What happened in the last 10 days? Well, 242 truck-loads of humanitarian aid reaching seven of those areas," said de Mistura.
The UN envoy said 115,000 people had now received aid, but described the number as "not enough" yet.
Meanwhile During a conference call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Italy all agreed the Syrian ceasefire is a milestone achievement creating favorable conditions for inter-Syrian dialogue.
President Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi held a conference call to discuss progress in the Syrian ceasefire. They are seeking to lead the country out of five years of hostilities, the Kremlin said.
They promised staunch support for the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG), the UN Security Council and UN Syria special envoy Staffan de Mistura.
The ceasefire was implemented on February 27, in compliance with the joint statement of the United States and the Russian Federation, which are acting as co-chairs of the ISSG. Terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Nusra Front and others that rejected the negotiations are not subject to the ceasefire.
