Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations and a government delegation have arrived at the U.N’s Geneva offices in their return to indirect peace talks with the opposition amid new fighting in Syria.
Advertisement
The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) intends to accelerate the negotiation process on Syria’s reconciliation, which requires the worldwide community to insist on conducting direct negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition, the HNC delegation head told Sputnik on Saturday.
But he said that the government had specifically excluded surgical equipment, anti-anxiety pills and atropine, which can be used to guard against poison – including sarin gas.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are also batting Syria’s al Qaeda affiliate, al-Nusra Front, and allied rebels along a northern front of Aleppo province.
The conflict which started in 2011 has killed more than 250,000 people and created millions of refugees, dividing Syria into a several areas controlled by the government, an array of rebels, a powerful Kurdish militia, and the IS group. The global medical relief organization said it knew of just five operating hospitals in the Azaz district, where much of the violence is concentrated.
Meanwhile, fighting further north between the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group and other rebels is said to have displaced 30,000 people.
Ja’afari said de Mistura’s team would examine the government’s proposed changes to a list of fundamental principles for the talks before meeting again Monday. The opposition told Reuters on Thursday that it was willing to share seats on a transitional governing body with members of Syria’s government, but President Bashar al-Assad must leave power and it was now time to discuss a transition. The U.S.is pushing for the eventual departure of the Syrian leader, while Russian Federation is continuing to back him after reversing the tide of the war by starting an air war campaign in September that averted the threat of Assad’s defeat and put his forces on the offensive.
While urging Russian Federation to press the Syrian government to stop the violations, Kerry “promised that we would do the same on our part for the opposition groups that we are supporting”, the spokesman said.
“The ISIS fighters attacked early in the morning, and they stormed into these villages by surprise”, said Jarrah, a rebel fighter in the area who asked that his full name not be used because of concerns for his safety.
“The whole world is talking about fighting ISIS, and yet those most at risk of becoming victims of its horrific abuses are trapped on the wrong side of a concrete wall”.
Turkish officials say they were aware of the report but had no immediate response.
There was no information on whether any of the civilians were hurt.
A senior Western diplomat close to the talks said that while the idea was unlikely to be de Mistura’s personal view, it was seemed clumsy given the sensitivity of the subject.
Advertisement
The warring sides have sought to portray the fighting as the fault of the other, pushing toward breaking point a cease-fire that was created to improve the political climate ahead of the Geneva talks.
