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| U.S. prepares plans of Syria no-fly zones: report |
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Two unidentified Obama administration officials told The Daily Beast in a report published on Tuesday that the White House request was made just before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry started his Middle East tour last week.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said that Obama is pursuing a "dual-track strategy" of making efforts towards a political solution to the two-year crisis in Syria while simultaneously preparing plans for military intervention.
“The White House is still in contemplation mode but the planning is moving forward and it’s more advanced than it’s ever been,” said one official.
All this meant to find a political solution, stated the official, adding “but what happens if Geneva fails? It’s only prudent to plan for other options.”
On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said the government of President Bashar al-Assad will participate in an international peace conference on the Syrian crisis that is likely to take place in Geneva in June.
At a meeting in Moscow on May 7, Russia and the United States reached an agreement to convene an international conference on Syria, which would serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.
Some reports say the meeting will be held on June 10, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Friday that such reports “cannot be taken seriously” since the ranks of the Syrian opposition groups remain so divided.
On May 13, the U.S. and Britain said they had found common ground with Russia on how to proceed on Syria.
At a meeting in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the two sides would make diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the turmoil in Syria.
The crisis in Syria began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
On May 18, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said militants from 29 different countries are fighting against the government in Syria.
“Recent credible reports show that there are approximately 29 nationalities of foreign fighters engaged in terrorism activities within Syria’s borders,” he said.
Assad stated that foreign intervention is the most important factor aggravating the situation in Syria.
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