UN sees chance for local ceasefires, political talks

The United Nations sees at least three or four areas in Syria that are ripe for local ceasefires and hopes that the recent escalation in the war may create a chance for political talks, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said on Thursday.

"I don't think the distance between the parties is insurmountable," Eliasson told a news conference in Geneva.

"If there is political will now I think paradoxically we could use a serious part of the risks involved with the present escalation as a good reason to create a credible track on the political area."