Syrian Opposition Group To Participate Geneva Peace Talks
KABUL: (MEP) The anti-Syrian government opposition group said Friday that it would attend UN-led peace talks aimed at ending five years of deadly conflict in Syria, in the Swiss city of Geneva.
A member of the group, known as the Higher Negotiating Committee (HNC), Farah Atassi, said a delegation of “about 30, 35 people” to talk with UN officials will be sent which started on Friday.
The delegation is coming “not to negotiate” with the government but to talk to UN officials after receiving reassurances from the organization, Atassi added.
“Tomorrow we won’t be in Geneva. We could go there but we will not enter the negotiating room if our demands aren’t met,” HNC coordinator Riad Hijab said on Thursday in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Backed by external powers embroiled in Syria’s war, the talks are seeking to end a conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people and fuelled the meteoric rise of the extremist Islamic State group.
The talks are the first since two rounds of negotiations collapsed in 2014.
The meetings are part of a process outlined in a UN resolution last month that envisages an 18-month timetable for a political transition, including the drafting of a new constitution and elections.
The opposition’s negotiation team is expected to join the talks on Saturday evening or Sunday morning.
‘Kerry Welcomes the Opposition group’
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has welcomed the opposition group’s decision to attend the peace talks.
“The United States welcomes the important decision by the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition to attend negotiations hosted by the United Nations in Geneva.” Kerry said in a statement on Friday.
Kerry also called on all the warring parties in Syria to implement the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2254.
The resolution calls for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and the formation of a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government within six months and UN-supervised “free and fair elections” within 18 months.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed extremist groups since 2011.
