UN chief names new envoy to Syria

WASHINGTON, Oct 31(AFP): A seasoned Norwegian diplomat who helped oversee talks leading to the Oslo peace accords has been named as the next special envoy to Syria.

In a letter seen Tuesday by AFP, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that he wishes to give the job to Geir Pedersen.

Pedersen is a veteran diplomat, who in 1993 was a member of the Norwegian team to the secret negotiations that led to the signing of the Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinians.

He has held several posts in the region, including as UN envoy to south Lebanon in 2005 and then as special coordinator for the whole of Lebanon from 2007 to 2008.

Pedersen also spent several years as Norway's representative to the Palestinian Authority. He is currently Norway's ambassador to China and has previously served as its envoy to the UN.

The Syria conflict, which began with anti-government street protests in 2011, has claimed more than 360,000 lives and drawn in foreign powers and various jihadist groups.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 bodies of civilians have been found in a newly-discovered mass grave in Syria's northern province of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS), the pro- government al-Watan newspaper said on Wednesday.

Citing medical sources, the newspaper said the bodies belong to civilians who had been killed by the strikes of the US-led coalition on Raqqa.

The newspaper said the bodies of 4,000 civilians have so far appeared in mass graves in Raqqa, adding that more bodies are being unearthed on daily basis.