Syrian factions closer to US-Russia brokered talks

THE Syrian government has agreed to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the country’s civil war, the Russian foreign ministry said yesterday in what was the first sign that president Bashar al-Assad’s regime would be willing to take part in talks with the opposition.

Syria must talk,said Alexander Lukashevich. Picture: Contributed

Mr Assad’s government has not issued a definitive statement on the proposed talks, but a Syrian legislator in Damascus said the government intends to attend.

Russia and the US joined efforts to convene an international conference to bring representatives of Mr Assad’s regime and the opposition to the negotiating table, expected to be held in Geneva, Switzerland next month.

The aim of the talks would be to establish the outlines of a transitional government as a way to end the civil war, now in its third year.

More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Mr Assad erupted in March 2011.

The diplomatic push comes as the rebels suffered a string of setbacks and found themselves forced to call in reinforcements to fight off a week-long regime offensive aimed at recapturing the key western Syrian town of Qusair.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has not yet said whether it will attend the conference and is discussing its position at a gathering in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

However, members have said they want guarantees that Mr Assad’s departure is foremost on the agenda of any talks.

The US-Russia plan, similar to the one set out last year in Geneva, calls for talks on a transitional government and an open-ended ceasefire. Washington, along with key European and Arab supporters of Syria’s opposition, said on Wednesday that Mr Assad must relinquish power at the start of a transition period.

Russia, however, has not committed to his departure and the Syrian leader has said he will not step down before his term ends next year. Moscow’s announcement came after days of talks there between Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad and Russian officials.

“We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from the Syrian government in Damascus to participate in the international conference, in the interest of Syrians themselves, to find a
political solution,” Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

However, he said it is impossible to set the date for the conference because there is “no clarity about who will speak on behalf of the opposition and what powers they will have”.

US officials announced later yesterday that secretary of state John Kerry will meet with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Paris to discuss the Syria peace talks, adding that Mr Kerry will extend a seven-day trip through the Middle East and Africa by one day to dine with Mr Lavrov on Monday.

In the Syrian capital, legislator Sharif Shehadeh confirmed the government intends to attend, though no official statement has been issued yet. “The expectations and the opinion within the Syrian leadership is that it will most definitely attend the conference,” he said.

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