Syria talks in Astana will ‘consolidate’ truce: Russia
Fighting rages near Damascus amid fragile ceasefire
Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital next week are aimed at consolidating the frail truce in the war-torn country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday. “One of the objectives of the meeting in Astana is first of all to consolidate the ceasefire,” Lavrov said of the talks due to begin on January 23.
Lavrov said the talks would also serve as an opportunity to involve rebel field commanders in “the political process” aimed at ending the bloodshed. “Those who wish to join must have the possibility to do so.” Organized by rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran, the Astana meeting is the latest bid to put an end to the brutal conflict raging since March 2011. US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has been invited but has not yet officially responded.
Lavrov said yesterday it was “right to invite representatives of the UN and the new US administration” but did not say whether the incoming Trump administration had confirmed its attendance. A source in the Russian foreign ministry told AFP the talks would not involve the foreign ministers of participating countries and could last a few days, but did not give further details. Syria’s UN ambassador will head the government delegation to upcoming peace talks, a Syrian daily reported yesterday, while the opposition said it would be represented by rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush.
Talks on the nearly six-year-old conflict, organized by Turkey, Russia and Iran, are set to begin on January 23 in the Kazakh capital Astana. The Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, reported yesterday that the regime’s delegation “will be led by Syrian diplomat and permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar Al-Jaafari.”
The government’s team will also include “figures representing the military and the Syrian judiciary, so that the delegation will represent the whole Syrian state,” the newspaper wrote. Chief rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush, a leading figure in the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) faction, will represent the opposition, according to National Coalition member Ahmad Ramadan. The opposition delegation will include around 20 people, Ramadan told AFP. Rebel groups announced on Monday that they would send a “military” delegation to Astana, as well as legal and political advisors from the High Negotiations Committee umbrella group.
Alloush and Jaafari headed opposing teams at UN-hosted peace talks in Geneva last year, trading accusations throughout the ill-fated negotiations. Jaafari described his rival as a “terrorist,” while Alloush accused the regime of committing “massacres” in Syria.
Fighting despite truce
The talks come a month after the Syrian regime took full control of the country’s second city of Aleppo from rebels in its biggest victory in more than four years of fighting. Russia launched a bombing campaign to shore up the forces of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad in September 2015, a move Lavrov hailed yesterday. “We are convinced we acted rightly when we responded positively to the request (to intervene) of Syria’s legitimate government... whose capital was two to three weeks away from being seized by terrorists,” said Lavrov. Russia and Turkey last month brokered a ceasefire in Syria but without the involvement of the United States, a negotiator in previous truces. The truce went into effect on December 30 and has brought calm to much of Syria although fighting continues in some regions. Nine civilians were killed at the weekend in heavy fighting that erupted near Damascus, jeopardizing the nationwide truce. Government troops also lost ground to the Islamic State jihadist group near the Deir Ezzor military airport in the country’s east.
The ceasefire excludes the IS group and its rival the Fateh Al-Sham Front, which changed its name from Al-Nusra Front after breaking ties with Al-Qaeda last year.
If the Astana meetings are successful, they could bode well for a new round of UN-hosted political negotiations on the conflict set for next month in Geneva. More than 300,000 people have been killed and over half of the population displaced in nearly six years of deadly fighting in Syria. Millions have also fled the country. — AFP