Damascus, July 23 (IANS): The Syrian foreign ministry Wednesday hailed the appointment of Staffan de Mistura who replaced Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN envoy to Syria.
In a statement, the Syrian foreign ministry said that a dialogue with the Syrians is the only way out of the ongoing crisis in the country, Xinhua reported.
The ministry hoped Mistura would stick to neutrality and objectiveness, mainly to respect the national sovereignty of Syria and non-interference in its internal affairs.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Staffan de Mistura as the new UN envoy to Syria earlier this month, following the resignation of former envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
Staffan de Mistura had served in the UN for 40 years.
De Mistura's previous UN posts have included that of special representative of the secretary-general in Iraq (2007-2009) and Afghanistan (2010-2011), personal representative of the secretary-general for Southern Lebanon (2001-2004) and director of the UN Information Centre in Rome (2000-2001).