GENEVA/London: The long-delayed “Geneva II” peace conference for Syria will open in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux because of a lack of hotel space in Geneva, the United Nations said yesterday.
“The international conference on Syria... will be held due to logistical reasons... in Montreux,” said Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to organise the conference.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last month finally set January 22 as the date for the talks, which have been repeatedly postponed since June. But a luxury watch fair will be taking place in Geneva at the same time.
The global elite will also begin gathering for the annual World Economic Forum which begins in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on January 22, many of them passing through Geneva.
As a result the city’s hotels are fully booked, leading organisers to look for alternatives.
Montreux was decided upon, Mattar said, because of a variety of reasons, including security considerations and the availability of hotel space in the scenic town at the other end of Lake Geneva known for its jazz festival.
The conference centre at the Montreux Palace will only host the first day of high-level talks on January 22, hosted by Ban and including all invited country delegations.
Negotiations between the two Syrian delegations and Brahimi will then continue at the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva on January 24 but it has not been decided how long the talks will continue, Mattar said.
British doctor dies in Syria jail
A British surgeon imprisoned in war-torn Syria for over a year after volunteering to work in a hospital has died in detention, his family and a lawmaker said yesterday. Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from south London, travelled to the northern city of Aleppo — the scene of particularly fierce fighting — last year to help treat civilians.
Britain’s Foreign Office said it was “extremely concerned” by reports of his death and was seeking confirmation from the Syrian government, which it said it would hold responsible if he was dead. Khan’s brother Afroze told the BBC that Syrian authorities had promised to release him this week, but on Monday they told the family he had died.
Khan, 34, told the BBC: “My brother was going to be released at the end of the week. We were given assurance by the Syrian government. “My brother knew that. He was ready to come back home. He was happy and looking forward to being released.” The family said it had no information on how he died. British lawmaker George Galloway said he had been due to fly out to Syria within days to bring the doctor home.
“I think we will have to wait for clarification on how exactly he died but this is heartbreaking and devastating news for his family who have been working so hard for so long to secure his release,” Galloway said in a statement.
Galloway has been a vocal critic of the western policy on supporting Syrian rebels, having bitterly opposed the Iraq war in 2003, and has maintained contacts with the regime of President Bashar Al Assad.
“Last week I received a call from the (Syrian) foreign minister telling me that the president had asked him to contact me to come to Damascus to bring Dr Khan home before Christmas,” said Galloway. “Obviously this had to be kept confidential but the family were kept fully informed. I was in the process of booking a flight for this Friday when I got the appalling news.”
Afroze Khan accused the Foreign Office of failing to take action. “We are devastated, distraught and we are angry at the Foreign Office for dragging their feet for 13 months.”Agencies
