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Syria, China foreign ministers hold talks

Arab World Materials 18 April 2012 10:28 (UTC +04:00)
The foreign ministers of Syria and China held talks on Wednesday amid reports of renewed violence in Syria that could jeopardize a fragile peace plan overseen by a UN observer mission
Syria, China foreign ministers hold talks

The foreign ministers of Syria and China held talks on Wednesday amid reports of renewed violence in Syria that could jeopardize a fragile peace plan overseen by a UN observer mission dpa reported

"Today we can exchange opinions on the latest situation of Syria in a broad and extensive way," state media quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying at the start of the talks.

The one-day visit of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem was of "great importance" to China, Yang said, adding that he expected "positive results" from the talks.

Before Mualem's arrival, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said his visit was part of China's efforts to promote "reconciliation through negotiations" in Syria.

China was in regular contact with both the Syrian government and the opposition and planned to hold more talks with opposition leaders soon, Liu told reporters on Tuesday.

At least 77 people were killed in renewed violence in Syria on Tuesday, activists said.

UN observers were negotiating with the Syrian government to sign a protocol agreement to enable some 25 UN observers to arrive in Syria this week to monitor the shaky ceasefire, which was established last week.

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