syrian led and syrian owned this is consist with the purposes and principle of the u.n. charter. i want to stress that specific steps in the political transition must be independently worked out between the syrian government and the oppositional representatives through negotiation. the process for drafting a new constitutionality must be independently decided by all parties and groups of syria and the future leader of syria must be independently chosen by the syrian people. other countries could help in a constructive way, the international community need to foster an enabling environment and all parties should create a favorable condition for that. third, we must remain committed to having the u.n. serve as the main champion for mediation. u.n. involvement would bring more legitimacy and authority to the process. it is the largest common denominator acceptable to all parties. by security councilman date the u.n. will formulate a presence i have ceasefire plan and promote

peace talks between the government and the opposition. we'll look to the u.n. to work on both front steadily asman dated and play a bigger role in consolidating opposition groups coordinating international counter terrorism efforts and other areas. the international community should render cooperation and support and assist and compliment the mediation bisect general ban ki-moon and special envoy in a constructive way. the i.s.s.g. should build on its previous efforts and continue to support the u.n. mr. president, since the outbreak of the syrian crisis, chinas all alone held -- all along held an objective and a just position and participated in the settle. of the issue. china does not have or pursue selfish interests on the syrian issue. no matter how we vote for or against the goal is always to avoid war and turmoil. give the syrian people stability

give peace a chance and make political settlement possible. what we are trying to do is to uphold fundamental and long-term interests of the people in syria and the region. safeguard the purposes and principles of the u.n. charter, and a basic norms governing international relations and protect the legitimates and of developing countries especially small and medium-sized countries. the changing dynamics in the syrian situation affects very justice parties, the neighborhood and the whole world. it's increasingly profound facts have triggered severe global challenges such as terrorism and the refugees crisis. which is something that we need to think long and hard about we all all parties to rise above for the sake of global stability and the greater good. work together to advance political transition, jointly

fight terrorism, ease the humanitarian crisis, and take a holistic approach to the refugees problem. mr. president, instability causes suffering and the conflict leaves no winner we must join hands to help parties bury the hatchet and build peace so that syrian people will be able to lead a life free of fear and war, thank you. minister, thank you very much. and thank you particularly, i know you traveled all the way to be here for a day. and you are about to get on a plane to rush back and we are very appreciative for your effort. thanks for your important statement. thank you very much. now my privilege to recognize and give the floor to his excellence see, mr. fill up hammond the secretary of state for foreign and common wealth affairs for the united kingdom. >> thank you, mr. president, let me begin by thanking the secretary general and his special envoy for all that they

are doing to bring the syrian parties together. let me also thank you, second carey, for the characteristic drive and energy that you have brought over recent months in establishing the international syria support group. this is -- this has given new moan full towards the resumption of syrian-led talks and has brought us to this important occasion today. the resolution that we have adopted unanimously today is a further step in this work. sadly, it is far too soon for any of us to predict an end to the syria conflict. but i hope that we will look back on today as a significant step in that direction. frankly, on syria, this council has too seldom found the unity it needed to live up to its responsibility for delivering peace and security. despite some useful but only

partially implemented resolutions. this has to change. no country, no person, who has been involved in syria's destruction in the last four years can take any satisfaction from what has happened. on the syria dossier, we have to concede we have all failed. we have all been losers. but by far the greatest losers are the people of syria themselves. we have to do better and we have to do better fast if there is not to be still more suffering. the participants in the i.s.s.g. call together behind a single aim. to support the syrian parties, to find an end to the conflict, and tackle the terrorists currently operating in their country. we all share the sense of urgency which comes from witnessing the continuing did he tear area action of the -- dee tier or areas of humanitarian

situation in syria. the syrian population over 250,000 of whom have been killed and millions more forced from their homes have borne the brunt of in conflict. there is not a hugh terrien disaster, it's a humanitarian catastrophe. the ongoing indies crit natural use of weapon on his civilians, especially artillery and aerial bomb board. s including barrel bombs, continues to cause terror, destruction and civilian deaths. examine while daesh poses a real threat to syrians, as well as to the wider region, it is assad who bears the responsibility for the majority of the deaths in sire syria. mr. president, i commend saudi i arabia for convening a broad cross-section of representatives of the syrian opposition in riyadh earlier this month.

>> the determination of the syrian opposition groups to come together whatever their differences is, to play a crucial constructive role in talks. they reaffirm their commitment to the implementation of the geneva communique working towards managed transition away from assad, and the pluralistic future for syria. i welcome, too, jordan's efforts to build consensus on identifying terrorist groups. while it is for this council ultimately to designate any such groups, the issg is in a privileged position to provide information, analysis, and advice to the council. we believe it will take time to mature that view, and we're able to test which groups are willing to commit to a political process and a cease-fire.

mr. president, i would like to turn to the content of the resolution and highlight the areas that will be critical to the progress of talks. first, all of us both in this council and in the broader international community want to see a national cease-fire established, to have a realistic chance of success, a cease-fire must be closely aligned on progress on political transition in talks between the syrian parties and u.s. auspices. we've seen previous attempts to end the conflict in syria undermined by a lack of determination by the parties to contribute productively to talks. it is critical that the voices of all syrians are heard in this process, including syrian women and members of syrian minorities. second it must be amongst the parties that the process will be

delivered without which the talks nor the cease-fire will be successful. this will not be easy. five years of conflict has eroded confidence. therefore all the parties must undertake confidence-building measures, some of which are identified in the resolution we passed today. we welcome the work to be undertaken towards this end and the modalities towards a cease-fire as mandated by this resolution. there is a duty not to cause the death of civilians whether by deliberate or by reckless targeting. the discriminant ice of webs including bombardments including barrel bombs must stop. medical facilities and schools have increasingly become a target for aerial bombardments, something that is abore rent to

all of us and mouth stop. all they must aallow rapid, safe, and unhindered access throughout syria by most direct routes. there are 13.5 million syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. these people need to see a change to their lives if they're to have confidence in this political process and to feel its benefits. the u.k. is the second largest bilateral donor to the humanitarian effort in response to the syrian conflict after the united states, but let us all do more on this front. this resolution also repeats the commitment to political transition in syria, following the principles of the geneva community in full and lead to go

free and fair elections under a new syrian constitution within 18 months. this will involve the establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive powers and representative of all syrians which provides the framework for talks and an end to the conflict. this process necessarily involves the departure of bashar al-assad. not only for moral reasons because of the destruction he has unleashed upon his own people, and for practical reasons because it will never be possible to bring peace and unity to syria as long as he remains in office. but we must and will protect the institutions that are necessary for the future governance of syria, that is possible with the transitional governing body and with the support of the issg.

mr. president while we must seek to end the conflict in syria, especially the violence directed towards civilians, we must also join confront the threat posed by daesh and other extremist groups in the country, and an end to the civil war in syria is critical to tackling daesh in the long term. we're all clear that terrorist groups must not must not and will not benefit from the cease-fire we're promoting. a key consideration for the syrians in the establishment of the governing body will be the fight against terrorism. in this fight they will have the full support of the issg and of the global coalition. following the appalling attacks in sinai, beirut, and ankara, paris, this council unanimously

decided to adapt resolution 2249 which calls on all countries to use all necessary means to combat daesh. the u.k. responded to this resolution by extending the airstrikes we were already carrying out in iraq against daesh and into syria. in this regard it is vital that all the countries claim to be fighting daesh do what they is a rather than directing the bulk of their attacks towards non-extremist opposition groups. the weakening of such groups has created opportunities for the expansion of daesh in certain areas. the very opposite of the stated objection. mr. president, as well as focusing on the immediate threats, we must also prepare for the future in syria. we must reaffirm our commitment to assist in the post conflict

reconstruction of the country. next february in close partnership with germany, norway, kuwait, and the united nations, the u.k. will co-host a conference in london on humanitarian support for syria, including a focus on civilian protection as well as planning for stabilization. of course, mr. president, that conference will seek to raise the funding that is necessary to meet the united nations appeal to support those displaced by the humanitarian crisis. the u.k. is also committed to support post conflict reconstruction efforts in syria, and already has committed to provide at least $1.5 billion to this work in the long term in addition to the more than $1.64 billion we have so far given in humanitarian aid. i hope in february we will see

others committing to both the immediate challenge and to the long-term challenge of reconstruction. in conclusion, mr. president, the conflict in syria is now almost five years old. in that time more than 250,000 syrians have been killed. we all have a duty to prevent further slaughter. despite the important step we've taken with today's resolution, despite the progress we've made in vienna, despite the important step forward made at the meeting in riyadh the week before last, there is still a very long way to go. to have a chance at success the united nations will need the clear and continued support of the international syrian support group. i know that i can say it will have the support of that group. but above all we need syrian

leaders of all persuasions to take responsibility for the future of their country and to take the tough decisions needed to bring about a lasting political settlement and an end to the conflict because we can help, but only the syrians themselves can bring an end to syrian suffering. thank you, mr. president. >> thank you very much. >> okay, just joining us here on al jazeera, we've been hearing events at the united nations in new york. they're making some head way, the united nations security council has unanimously greed to resolution endorsing the rules map for syrian peace process. the main message of the speakers seems to be the time is now. and we have to grasp the energy that is in the room to move forward. the u.k. philipp hammond, we

just heard him speak. he called for a step forward and let's listen in now to the u.s. secretary of state john kerry. he insists that an that, bringing about peace to syria. >> the majority of the people in the issg believe that president assad has lost the ability, the credibility to be able to unite the country and to provide the moral credibility to be able to governor it into the future. so i just say not as a matter of ideology, not as a matter of choice, but as a matter of fact given the situation on the ground that if the war is to e end, it is imperative that the people agree on their governance. >> an important role here should be played as we hold through the

russian and u.s. resolutions this means cutting out illegal trade. cutting back terror, it is inadmissible to provide terror between good and bad. >> let's go live now to our diplomatic editor james bays, who joins us from new york. james, just listening in to all of the speakers, you talk about the need to move forward. just remind us what a struggle it was to get this text created. >> oh, absolutely. they always had the plan. and this was the u.s. presidency this month of the security council that they were going to try and have their meeting, the next meeting of the strengthen

in a process not in vienna but in new york and try to endorse it with a security council resolution, which is an important resolution because it's the first one that looks at the future of syria in political transformation and transition in syria. rarely have we seen an u.n. negotiation negotiated like this one with basically meetings around the clock, and then the final negotiation going up until about three hours before they actually arrived in the security council chamber. it's normally the case that resolutions have to be submitted 24 hours in advance. they say that's the time for everyone to consult with their capitals, and get it translated to all the languages. on this occasion they pushed past all of that. they only gave the other ten members of the security council, the ones that aren't the permanent members a very brief

look at this before they were asked to vote on it. very unusual, a great deal of negotiation, and on the whole it looks to me looking at the resolution that russia did not manage to remove some of the things it was trying to remove in this resolution. >> the they said they hope to look back on this step forward. what are the stumbling blocks that are still in the way? >> yes, will it be a significant step? will it an milestone, as john kerry called it, or is it just a glimmer of hope as the french foreign minister referred to this. yes, remember there have been efforts of peace in syria before. let melee out the ambitious plan. it is to have two things in just

weeks. one of them is a cease-fire in january. the other is to have new peace talks with the syrian government and representatives of the syrian opposition. the plan of those peace talks within six months to set up a new transitional governing body that will run syria and then with an eight-months from now actually to get syrians when they have a new constitutional governing body, to elect a new democratic government in syria, and it's worth noting most international observers believe every single election since bashar al-assad's father came to power in i 1970 has been a rigged election. it would be something very new, but imagine organizing an election when you think of the bloodshed and turmoil right now in syria.

>> the other thing is what that timeline looks like. you just mentioned it there. the goals are ambitious. but after this meeting comes to a close, what is the next step after that? >> well, the beginning of the timeline is just weeks away. the target of the beginning of january for the start of talks. the problem there, and it's not been resolved by today's meetings, is who is going to be talking. we know who is going to be representing syrian government of these talks. the president of syria, bashar al-assad will appoint his key officials to go to those talks. highly likely, i think, the man you've seen a couple of times bashar al-assad, who was the chief negotiator back in the last failed geneva talks. highly likely he'll be the chief negotiator again. on the opposition side who will be part of the opposition, and which of those fighting groups

on the ground will get a seat on the opposition table? and which of those fighting groups should not be allowed to have a seat at the table, and in fact,, not be allowed to be part of the feature of syria, and some difference there when you listen to the comments from the two key players who brought this process together and started this news process, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. they said there are organizations that have been designated as terrorist by the united nations security council. we can't have anyone who we designate in the future, but only two organizations he named. the russians have a very different view of who they believe is a terrorist.

>> joining me in that round o up of events. thank you. speaking at the end of the press conference, president obama also tackled the syrian war and said he was confident that the crisis could be resolved. >> we have an opportunity not to turn back the clock. to find a political transition that maintains the syrian state that recognizes a bunch of stake holders inside of syria, and hopefully to initiate a cease-fire that won't be perfect but allows all the parties to turn on what should be our number one focus, that is destroying daesh, and it's allies in the region.

that's going to be a difficult process, a painstaking process, but there is no short cut to that. assad will have to leave in order for the country to stop the blood-letting, and for all the parties involved to be able to move forward. >> well, chris thank you very much for joining us. you were listening at everything happening at the u.n. it's a very ambitious chance. it's a very ambitious plan, rather. are we going to start to see the voice of the deisn' dissenting? >> there are plenty of spoilers on the ground. on the ground you've got parties who don't recognize this whole vienna process that is now been codified in this new security council resolution. chief amongst those is isis.

it will proceed as usual. but there is also those groups who are embedded with the other syrian opposition groups like al nusra. everyone agrees they are a terrorist group within the security council. and then there are those who russia thinks are terrorist groups, and they're bombing them at the moment. but when there is a cease-fire in january, is russia going stop bombing the groups it deems terrorist groups? >> while we're having this conversation going on in new york, how ready and willing is assad to come to the table? >> we've heard that he won't talk to the armed groups.

he won't talk to those who he deems to be terrorists. and there is a narrow definition of who they find acceptable, and of course they're not going to consent to any process which has the removal as part of it. they certainly are a long way away from the whole moves the security council has seen. of course everyone is expecting. vladimir putin, the russians to put intense pressure on the regime says that happens. for putin, i think what really happens is the regime itself is preserved if assad eventually is sacrificed. that's fine. as long as the regime is in place and it's under his influence, then that will be a russian victory. but we are a long way away from that, and so much can happen. we have not even mentioned to kurds. the main kurdish groups, it's

barred from attending. it brings in the turks who don't want to see them have any form of autonomy there is another series of spoilers there in the wings. >> anybody listening to this from the outside might say why bother if there are so many stumbling blocks in the way? is there a reality that as philipp hammond said these small steps forward happen and progress will be made slowly. the time lines they're talking about, they seem completely overtly. >> certainly the top table of international community is slowly coming together. they recognize that they have to resolve this, and they have key reasons for doing this, the

refugees that are now going into europe in huge numbers. they know they have to do something. the question is can they really lobby the regional actors, including the syrian regime, and compel them to sign up to this political process? at the speed that they have outlined. that's not clear. there are also the syrian groups that i've mentioned that are way outside of this process. ban ki-moon made a powerful intervention. he called the confidence measures that will be necessary. the end of the shelling of civilians. the complete free and unimpeded access of aid of all prisoners. it will be very difficult to g get. >> this is going to be a very long road ahead. thank you very much for joining us. >> you can find out much more on our website. we'll have plenty of analysis of

what was said at the u.n. this evening. why not take a look. you can see the headline there on the front page. you can find it at www.aljazeera.com. so take a look we'll have plenty of articles and headlines there. >> we're in the eastern part of the democratic republic of congo. it's one of the least developed countries in the world, but there's an estimated $24 trillion worth of minerals here. tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold have all been linked to violence in eastern congo by rebel groups and the congolese army. >> millions of people have bee