Ban Ki Moon: Herve Ladsous (My assistant) has no business calling the conflict in Syria a 'Civil War'!

U.N. SECRETARIAT WILL NOT CHARACTERIZE CONFLICT IN SYRIA

• Asked about remarks concerning whether a civil war is taking place in Syria, the Spokesperson, said that is not for the Secretariat to determine or formally characterize the nature of the conflict in Syria.

• What we are all focusing on, he said, is that there has been a dangerous intensification of armed violence across Syria in the last several days.

• That is something that the Secretary-General himself referred to in the statement that came out on Monday evening, and he also commented on the scale of the violence in his comments to the press last Thursday.

• Last week, Nesirky noted, the Secretary-General said in a press encounter that “the confrontations in certain areas of the country have taken on the character of an internal conflict.” He has made clear his concerns about the implications of an intensification of the conflict, both inside Syria and for the region.

• Asked about a formal determination of a civil war, Nesirky noted the role played by the International Committee of the Red Cross in making such a determination. He noted that the ICRC makes assessments concerning internal conflicts and internal armed conflicts, in line with its responsibilities under the Geneva Conventions.

• Other matters, he added, would be for the Security Council to determine. The situation of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) is already a challenging one, he said.