UN envoy warns Syria conflict not over yet

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00:00The UN envoy is warning that Syria's protracted conflict hasn't ended yet,

00:05even as the country's victorious Islamist-led rebels step up contacts with governments

00:10that deemed ousted President Bashar al-Assad a pariah.

00:14Tens of thousands of people are believed to have fled the country since the fall of Assad.

00:18NGOs are concerned that religious minorities fear prosecution.

00:23Our correspondent in New York, Jessica LeMessurier, has been meeting some refugees there.

00:30The UN Special Envoy for Syria told the Security Council on Tuesday that the war

00:33is still not over there and expressed concern about a military escalation.

00:38Gary Pedersen said that an inclusive political transition

00:42will be key to ensuring that the country gets the economic support that it needs.

00:45He recommended ending sanctions on Syria.

00:48Both Pedersen and the UN's aid chief, Tom Fletcher, briefed the council from Damascus.

00:53They've met with the country's new leaders who are asking for the lifting of sanctions.

00:58Western powers have imposed tough sanctions on Syria under the Assad regime.

01:02And as events now move forward, the economic situation

01:06is complicated because there are also sanctions on the Islamist group HTS.

01:10It's been on the UN Security Council sanction list for over a decade now.

01:15Fletcher called on member states to ensure that sanctions don't impede

01:19humanitarian operations in Syria, where 17 million people are in need of support.

01:25Syrian journalist Wad Al-Kateb was at the council meeting representing civil society.

01:31She is cautiously hopeful for the future of Syria.

01:34You know, we've been watching and seeing so many,

01:37like, disappointment, you know, over all over these years.

01:41With HTS, definitely we don't have a great history with them.

01:44And personally, and so many activists agree with

01:48all the, like, violation that was happening before.

01:52What we're seeing today in the ground is something really, like, different.

01:56And the statements, the issues really match the attitude on the ground.

02:01We still have concern, for sure. But I think the only way for us is to

02:05be there and move forward and step forward and be part of this, like, process.

02:11Diplomats agree that the removal of sanctions could be used as

02:14leverage to ensure that Syria's new leaders respect human rights.

02:19Jessica Lemoussier, there in New...

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