“”The United Nations is making a desperate new push for a Syria peace conference even as the United States prepares a possible military strike, according to diplomats. UN Under Secretary General Jeffrey Feltman discussed a possible conference during a landmark visit last week to Iran, a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad, UN officials and diplomats said. The prospect of a military strike and Syria’s divided opposition, which has demanded that Assad be kept out of any transitional government, bears heavily on the prospects for talks however. Some western leaders believe there can be no conference until Assad has been punished for his alleged use of chemical weapons.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/05/un-seeks-syria-peace-talks-amid-military-strike-threat/