Pointing fingers does not help

UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said recently in Vienna, where he was holding talks with the Austrian foreign minister, that Syrian President Bashar Assad is “part of the solution for the reduction of violence” in his country.

No one can dispute the fact that Assad is part of a solution to the Syrian conflict since he has been part of the problem all along, leading to a civil war in his country four years ago.

The conflict in Syria started because of Assad’s disproportional use of force to quell a peaceful demonstration in Daraa against his autocratic regime.

Assad is thus the “maker” of the conflict and as such, the solution lies, in part at least, with him.

Assad’s regime can contribute a great deal to the end of the war in Syria by halting its indiscriminate bombing of people, most recently with barrel bombs and earlier by using chemical weapons.

But to attempt to reach national reconciliation in Syria, there is need for the cooperation of all stakeholders, effectively building on Geneva I, of 2012, and Geneva II, of 2014, conferences.

It also requires defeating the terrorist gangs that call themselves Islamic State and that have taken control of parts of the country, sowing a reign of terror, and the cooperation of the national opposition groups deploying their militias in Syria.

The UN envoy once suggested a ceasefire in the northern city of Aleppo, but there has been no follow-up on the idea.

While his suggestions are sensible, he might also be more forceful in apportioning blame for the continuing bloodshed and destruction in this Arab country.

The conflict is responsible for the death of more than 200,000 people and caused an unprecedented refugee crisis that spilled across the country’s borders.

No party to the conflict is less guilty, so they, and their outside supporters, should stop pointing fingers, sit down at the table to negotiate a ceasefire, to start with, and later forge a peace that would enable Syrians to reclaim their lives and start reconstructing this ancient country, a heritage of all humanity.