ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UN special envoy to Syria met with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials to discuss their experience fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and their plans to send fighters to face them In Kobane, Syria.
During his visit to Erbil, Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura met with Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Interior Minister Karim Sinjari and speaker of parliament Mohammed Yousef "to get their own perspective on the crisis vis-à-vis the fact that they are exposed themselves on the frontline to the threatening activities of Dash," he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
As the Kurdistan Regional Goverment will be the first international force to send soldiers to Syria, "they have an opportunity to guide me on what the international community can do against terrorism in Syria," he told Rudaw.
The visit comes a week after de Mistura met Naim Qassem, deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, an ally of Iran and of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
The Beirut trip marked the first time a western official has met a senior member of what many countries consider a terrorist organization. Hezbollah interpreted it as a sign the UN was seeking a political settlement to the three-year long Syrian conflict.
De Mistura also met the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, earlier this week.
The diplomat is gathering support to save Kobane from a humanitarian catastrophe.
"What we are looking at is a strong appeal to save Kobane because Kobane is a symbol of the courageous resistance of a city and its own population against the threat of terrorism," he said.
Sensitive to the demands of regional actors allied with the Syrian government, he added that it is important any intervention is "done within the context of the national sovereignty of Syria and at the same time in the context of international law."
At the same time he acknowledged the urgency of taking action in areas under attack by ISIS, saying that "international law is also how to help people that are threatened by terrorism. Well, that's exactly what we've been asking: help Kobane."
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