Damascus: No Foreign Powers Should Have Say in Syria Talks

Local Editor

No foreign power should be permitted to interfere in the ongoing Syrian talks in Geneva, Syria's ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari said, denying that high-level US-Russian meetings in Moscow will impact the process.

"When we say that the dialogue must be between Syrians, without outside intervention, this also applies to the Russians and Americans," al-Jaafari told AFP in an interview.

His comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was heading to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, hoping to build momentum for the Syrian peace drive.

Negotiations in Geneva, entering their 10th day Wednesday, were rattled last week by Russia's surprise decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria, a move experts have said could help the peace drive by weakening Assad's position.

But al-Jaafari said that believing that Moscow can pressure its historic ally in Damascus amounted to a "misreading" of the situation.

"If any pressure should be applied, we hope it will be applied by the United States on the armed groups sponsored by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to help move the discussions forward," he added.

The meetings in Moscow on Thursday are expected among other things to touch on a partial, fragile ceasefire declared on February 27, which has raised hopes for an end to the five-year Syrian conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team