China repeats assertions regarding Syria

China has once again called for a political solution to the ongoing unrest in Syria and urged the international community to help with finding the solution.

“The Chinese side is open and actively disposed towards all possible political solution which can be accepted by all Syrian sides,” AFP quoted Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as saying at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday.

Describing the situation in Syria as “very complex and also serious,” Li said that the international community should together play an “active and constructive role” in finding a solution in Syria.

Chinese premier, who is on a three-day visit to Germany, made the comments on the same day that Damascus announced it will take part in a Geneva conference in June, which is aimed at ending the crisis in the Arab country.

“We think … that the international conference represents a good opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria,” Syria Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday.

Muallem arrived in Baghdad earlier on Sunday and held talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Baghdad says it welcomes Syria™s decision to attend the conference known as Geneva 2.

Syria’s opposition National Coalition (SNC) has yet to announce whether or not it will participate in the upcoming talks. The divided SNC has been holding meetings in the Turkish city of Istanbul since May 23 to work out its stance on the conference.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

The first Geneva conference, which was held under the chairmanship of former UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, called for a political solution to Syria crisis.

The crisis in Syria began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on May 23, œSyria is determined to tackle terrorism and those who support it regionally and globally, and to find a political solution to the crisis.”

MN/HN

This article originally appeared on: Press TV