UN Sets Sights on Fresh Syria Talks as Opposition Stubbornness Prevents Progress

Local Editor

The international envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi revealed that the "UN aims to bring Syria's warring sides back to the negotiating table from February 10."
"I suggested we resume, on the basis of an agreed agenda, on February 10," Brahimi told reporters after a week of closed-door negotiations wrapped up.

He also said: "The delegation of the opposition agreed to this date. That of the government said they needed to consult with Damascus first."

Getting the rival camps to sit down for the first time in almost three years of fighting has been seen as a triumph in itself for Brahimi, a veteran peacemakers.

"Progress is very slow indeed, but the sides have engaged in an acceptable manner," Brahimi said. "This is a very modest beginning, but it is a beginning on which we can build."
"The gaps between the sides remain wide. There is no use pretending otherwise. Nevertheless, during our discussions, I observed a little bit of common ground, perhaps more than the two sides realize or recognize."

Meanwhile, Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told pro-Syrian demonstrators outside the UN's European headquarters in Geneva where the talks were held: "Neither in this round, nor in the next will they obtain any concessions from the Syrian delegation,"
"They will not get through politics what they couldn't get through force," Zohbi insisted, as the applauding crowd waved a huge Syrian flag and brandished pictures of President Bashar Assad.
Zohbi said his no surrender message was not only for the rebels, whom he accused of "terrorism", but also for their allies in Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and anti-Assad groups in Lebanon.

For his part, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem considered that the week of talks has failed to achieve any tangible results.
"I regret to tell you that we have not reached tangible results during this week," he told reporters after the closed-door negotiations wrapped up in Geneva.
Al-Moaalem blamed a "lack of maturity and seriousness" on the part of the rival delegation, which he claimed had sought to "implode" the peace negotiations.
"They acted as if we had wanted to come here for one hour and hand over everything to them. It's indicative of the illusions that they are living under," he said.
The Syrian top diplomat said al-Assad and his government would first read the delegation's report, then make a decision on the next step, with the negotiators returning if the public demanded it.
"We represent the concerns and the interests of our people," al-Moallem insisted.
"We are a country. We have our government, our institutions. We are willing to discuss, but for that we have to know the identity of the other side: are they Syrians or are they not?"
"Geneva I as a communique was formulated in the absence of the Syrians," he said, noting that interpretations of its content diverged.
In parallel, the al-Moallem stated: "The forefront of our concerns is combating terrorism," saying the opposition was "completely detached from what is happening in Syria".

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition chief Ahmad Jarba accused the regime of showing no "serious commitment" during a week of talks in Geneva that wrapped up Friday.
Jarba confirmed that his so-called National Coalition will take part in a second round of talks.

He stressed though that the opposition's presence in Geneva was conditioned on receiving "the means to defend our people on the ground," according to an official translation of his Arabic speech.
"I can assure you that the pledges made by the states have come into force. The pace of supporting our revolutionaries is quickening, as you may have heard in recent days," he said.
Brahimi said that despite a difficult start, the talks had got down to specifics.
"This week we started to discuss the specific areas of the cessation of violence in all its forms, including the fight against terrorism, and the transitional governing body exercising full executive powers."

Brahimi noted that the talks ended with no breakthrough in addressing the desperate humanitarian situation in the country.
He earlier said he was "very, very disappointed" that no progress had been made towards fulfilling the only tangible promise to emerge from the talks: the regime's promise to allow women and children safe passage from rebel-held areas of Homs that have been besieged since June 2012.

Despite a large gap between the warring parties, Brahimi said Friday they shared more common ground than they realized.
He said both were committed to finding a political solution based on the never-implemented roadmap to peace set out by world powers at a 2012 conference in Geneva. "Both sides understand that the conflict in their country has imposed immense and unacceptable suffering on the Syrian people. Both sides recognize the urgent need to bring the violence to an end."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team