Geneva: UN special envoy for Syria calls for cease-fire

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has called for a "humanitarian cease-fire" to end the bloodshed in Syria.

De Mistura met Wednesday with Iran's ambassador to the UN Mohsen Naziri-Asl in Geneva for consultations.

After the meeting, a joint statement said that Naziri-Asl and De Mistura discussed the crisis in Iraq and Syria and its impact on the region.

The Geneva consultations on Syria started May 5 and are expected to last up to six weeks.

De Mistura also met with Faris al-Mazrouei, the assistant foreign minister for security and military affairs in the United Arab Emirates.

The special envoy called for a "humanitarian cease-fire," emphasizing the importance for all sides to end the bloodshed in Syria.

More than 40 Syrian groups, including Syrian opposition armed groups, have been invited to attend talks in Geneva.

Syria has been gripped by violence since the regime launched a crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a civil war in which more than 211,000 people have died.