Hijab took advantage of the wide range, Arab and global, media coverage to justify the HNC’s decision on suspending contribution at the negotiations and to send out a message to the Syrian interior, truce sponsors “Washington” and “Moscow”, Friends of Syria Group, the U.N. Security Council and the League of Arab States.
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The Syrian opposition said it was still committed to the political process, but needed to see improvements on the ground.
The talks aim to halt a conflict that has allowed for the rise of the Islamic State group, sucked in regional and major powers and created the world’s worst refugee crisis.
But the main stumbling block remains the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, whom the opposition insists can not be a part of a transitional government. Russia’s intervention in the conflict beginning late past year has swayed the war in Assad’s favour.
The Syrian opposition HNC is “rightfully frustrated by the regime’s persistent violations” and “continued obstruction of humanitarian access”.
De Mistura “expected both sides to start from positions [that are] very far apart and [that it would] take quite a bit of time to bring them into agreement”, Kirby said.
The official said at least in the area north of Aleppo, Russian actions appeared to be in support of the Syrian regime, aimed at cutting off the supply lines for moderate opposition forces.
Referring to the government delegation, he added that the United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura may decide to continue the talks, which had been scheduled to run until the middle of next week, with those who had yet to “offer any real ideas, to press them to do so”. He finally said that the opposition will not resume its participation unless all requests are met. Fares al-Bayoush, a colonel who heads the Northern Division told Reuters: “Our situation on the frontlines is acceptable, but we await the increase of the support, or as the states promised … so we can force it (the regime) to resort to the political solution”.
The defense official says the relocated Russian weapons include rocket-propelled artillery.
The conversation also touched on Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, though Obama did not broach Russia’s recent military provocations against the U.S.in the Baltic Sea.
He said there would be no return to negotiations “soon”.
Russian Federation intervened militarily in Syria last September under the pretext of combatting ISIS, the terror group behind the attacks in Paris and Brussels.
Russian-backed Syrian forces recently recaptured the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State terror group in central Syria.
The envoy said prevention by the Syrian government of the passage of medical equipment into besieged areas was “worrisome” and against global law.
But despite proclamations by UN, US and Russian officials that the process continues, the mood here at the Palais is one of defeat – filled with the gutting sense of a lost opportunity, undergirded by the insecurity of not knowing what comes next for the Syrian people.
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Current reports emerging from the opposition indicate that their resentment springs from several issues, the first being the HNC’s demand for a transitional period in Syria without Al-Assad, which the Syrian government responded to by imposing a redline on discussions of Al-Assad and the Syrian presidency.
