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International Peace Initiative to convene conference on Syria

April 9, 2014 at 3:19 pm

The Syrian conflict is now entering its third year, having claimed the lives of more than 140,000 and displacing millions. With diplomatic efforts consistently disappointing the Syrian people, a group of Syrian civil society activists from across the political, cultural and religious spectrum are scheduled to meet this weekend near Vienna, Austria to discuss the possibilities for ending the civil war and paving the way for a democratic transition in Syria.


The meeting, called “After the Geneva negotiations: All sides consultation for a political solution in Syria”, will bring together approximately 50 Syrian activists, intellectuals, professors, journalists, doctors, artists and religious dignitaries of various political, cultural and religious affiliations and identities associated with the different sides of the conflict. The meeting will be held at the Friedensburg Schlaining (Peace Castle Schlaining).

The symposium is part of the International Peace Initiative for Syria, a movement that aims to foster a political dialogue within Syrian civil society in order to meet the people’s demands for democracy and social justice, while maintaining opposition to any foreign military intervention in the Syrian conflict. The initiative is supported by prominent international personalities, among them the Nobel Prize laureate Adolfo Pèrez Esquivel, former Swiss MP Jean Ziegler, Nicaraguan liberation theologian Ernesto Cardenal, former UN official Hans von Sponeck, Mexican bishop Raul Vera and many others.

The initiative has been in close contact with the opposing parties in Syria for a considerable time and sent a high level international delegation to meet with Syrians in June 2013.

Now, the initiative is organising a symposium to bring Syrians together to discuss reaching a political solution to the conflict, including: Habib Issa, a widely respected opposition veteran who has spent many years in jail; Lamia Aasi, the former social affairs minister; Kefah Ali Deeb, a young women’s rights activist; Hassan Al-Hachemi, a leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood; and Senam Mohamad, chairperson of the Kurdish People’s Assembly,

Internationals will attend the meeting as observers, including delegates representing the UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). The co-founders of the International Peace Initiative for Syria will act as moderators, among them Belgian liberation sociologist and Catholic priest François Houtart, Nicaraguan expert in peace-building measures Alejandro Bendaña, Greek coordinator of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Evangelis Pissias and spokesperson for foreign affairs in the German parliamentary club of Die Linke Party Wolfgang Gehrcke.

The meeting will conclude on Monday morning, with participants presenting the outcome of their deliberations at the Presseklub Concordia in Vienna.