Originally published Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 3:32 AM
Chief UN monitor in Syria: mission irrelevant
The chief U.N. observer in Syria says his mission is irrelevant without a political process seeking to end the country's civil war.
The Associated Press
AP
In this image made from unverified amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Wednesday, smoke rises from buildings in Homs, Syria.
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
General Assef Shawkat, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, in 2000.
- / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Syrian Defense Minister General Daoud Rajha
LOUAI BESHARA / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
General Hassan Turkmani in Damascus. Syrian state television confirmed that Turkmani, former defense minister and head of the regime's crisis cell, was among those killed.
The chief U.N. observer in Syria says his mission is irrelevant without a political process seeking to end the country's civil war.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus Thursday that "we are not on the track for peace," citing intense fighting in and around the capital this week.
Mood's comments come a day after a rebel bomb attack struck the heart of the regime of President Bashar Assad, killing the defense minister, his deputy and a former defense minister.
The U.N. Security Council is to vote Thursday on whether to renew the monitoring mission, which expires Friday.
Syria's 16-month crisis has evolved into a civil war, with scores of rebel groups fighting to topple Assad's regime.
Google+
