In Geneva, meanwhile, both sides have accused each other of bad faith.
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There was no public word Monday from the Syrian government delegation, which has already criticized the opposition bloc for arriving late and for making demands before formal talks began.
United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura met on Sunday with the delegation of the Riyadh-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) within the framework of the first round of the Geneva talks that started on Friday with the aim of resolving the conflict in Syria. China will continue working with the global community to promote dialogue for a political resolution, Lu said.
The Syrian government’s chief delegate retorted that the blasts in Damascus, which the Interior Ministry blamed on a auto bomb and two suicide bombers, merely confirmed the link between the opposition and terrorism – even though Daesh has been excluded from the talks.
Previous talks have failed.
He’ll meet Tuesday with the Syrian government. Opposition groups also share the same view that both groups are considered as rebels although they do not believe the same ideologies.
“We are keen to make this negotiation a success”, opposition spokesperson Salim al-Msulat told Reuters.
But the odds are formidable.
On 31 January, IS (Daesh) claimed responsibility for a triple bombing that killed more than 70 people in a predominantly Shiite suburb south of Damascus.
Two earlier rounds of peace talks have yielded no lasting ceasefire. “This is exactly why [de Mistura] insisted on having indirect talks”. And all the while, the conflict that has claimed more than 300,000 lives rages on.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the casualties were expected to rise from the suicide attacks in Sayeda Zeinab, a district of southern Damascus where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other Iraqi and Iranian militias have a strong presence. The Gulf monarchies, U.N. Security Council and United States have all condemned the Syrian government sieges, but none has committed ground forces to contest government offensives.
But the crisis won’t be easy to solve. “That’s the kind of choice the Assad regime would like to offer”. “The regime in Russian Federation will produce a new Hitler, and we are suffering from another Hitler in Syria”.
Another thorny issue is which rebel groups will be involved in the talks, although all sides agree on the exclusion of IS and Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.
The U.N. special envoy has said his mandate is to involve “the broadest possible spectrum of the opposition”. “That is what allows this group to be here, not yet for negotiations, but certainly to set the ground for negotiations”. “The regime wants to eliminate the opposition”. “Civilians, including children and women, are bearing the brunt of this conflict”, Ban said in Oman.
Kerry also said that he had received reports that 16 more people had starved to death Madaya over the weekend.
“We are not holding talks with individuals. We feel they have a very strong point”, he said.
As parties work toward an agreement, many Syrians are on the brink of starvation. It also said 25 non-Syrian Shia militants were among the dead, without specifying their nationalities.
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“The attack started at 2 a.m., with air strikes and missiles”, said rebel commander Ahmed al-Seoud, describing the situation near Aleppo, parts of which are controlled by the government and parts are in opposition hands.
