G8 calls on Syria to immediately, fully adhere to Annan peace plan
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E-mail Xinhua, May 20, 2012
The Group of Eight (G8) leaders on Saturday called on the Syrian government and all parties in the country to immediately and fully adhere to a six-point peace plan brokered by United Nations-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan.
"We remain appalled by the loss of life, humanitarian crisis, and serious and widespread human rights abuses in Syria," the leaders said in a joint statement after the G8 summit concluded at Camp David in the U.S. state of Maryland.
"The Syrian government and all parties must immediately and fully adhere to commitments to implement the six-point plan of UN and Arab League Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan," the statement said.
The leaders called on Syria to immediately cease all violence " so as to enable a Syrian-led, inclusive political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system," according to the statement.
Voicing support for Annan, the leaders welcomed the deployment of the UN monitors in Syria, and urged "all parties, in particular the Syrian government, to fully cooperate with the mission."
"We strongly condemn recent terrorist attacks in Syria," said the statement, adding that the leaders remain "deeply concerned" about the threat caused by the crisis to regional peace and security.
However, given the rather vague and much watered-down statement, it is unclear what tangible or new progress has been made at the G8 summit on the Syrian crisis, which was an important part of the summit's agenda.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Russia will work to exclude Syria and Iran from the declaration of the G8 summit. Analysts believed that such a statement, plus the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has made it hard for the summit to achieve a breakthrough on the issue.
The two-day G8 summit kicked off on Friday evening at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland, with wide- ranging topics on the agenda, including the eurozone debt crisis, Iran, Syria, global energy and food security.
The G8 and the NATO summits were originally planned to be held back to back in Chicago, the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois.
According to the explanation by White House officials, holding the G8 summit at the exclusive presidential retreat is meant to give leaders an intimate environment to discuss key problems and be able to take real actions.
Due to this reason, many media organizations have been denied access to Camp David, with the few exceptions for the press from the G8 members.
But such an explanation seems a bit far-stretching, as the NATO summit, where tangible results are expected, has been given all the highlights. Analysts suspected that a potential lack of tangible results could be why the G8 summit occurs in such a low- key.
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