Syria Peace Talks Struggle to Get off Ground as Divided Oppositions Remain Hesitant
Local Editor
The UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura faced an uphill task in Geneva on Monday to get talks to off the ground, as the Syrian divided oppositions hesitated to join negotiations.
The urgency to find a solution to the four-year war was brought home Sunday when multiple explosions killed 71 people near Damascus.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the new atrocity in Syria was "clearly aimed to disrupt the attempts to start a political process".
Under an ambitious roadmap agreed in November in Vienna by all the outside powers embroiled in the war, the "proximity talks" -- so not face-to-face - are due to last six months.
The plan envisions elections within 18 months.
The UN special envoy for Syria fought Sunday to keep alive the biggest diplomatic push yet to end the Syrian war.
In Geneva, de Mistura held separate talks with representatives of the Syrian government and with the so-called "High Negotiations Committee" [HNC] opposition umbrella group.
He said he was "optimistic and determined", however comments from both sides laid bare the enormity of the challenges ahead for ending a highly complex and bitter conflict.
As the HNC delegation reluctantly arrived late on Saturday in Geneva, it immediately threatened to turn around and leave again.
For his part, Syria's chief negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari denounced the opposition as "not serious."
"We do not know who is on the other side. They don't even have a final list," he told a packed news conference.
A Western diplomat said that on Sunday UN envoy Staffan de Mistura made proposals to a mistrustful HNC in talks in a Geneva hotel, but that they were still hesitating.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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