Bar set low for Syria peace talks

Mediator says he hopes to create momentum towards transition

The relaunch of the Syrian peace process today can at best create some momentum towards political transition in the war-ravaged country, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura said, damping hopes for major progress in the Geneva talks.

“Am I expecting a breakthrough? No, I am not expecting a breakthrough,” de Mistura told reporters yesterday.

The talks have been stalled since April last year, when the opposition walked out to protest mounting attacks by government security forces.

Salim al-Muslit, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee, called for direct negotiations with the Syrian regime representatives.

“We want to see direct negotiations . . . We do not want negotiations like previous rounds in separate rooms,” al-Muslit told reporters.

At the previous talks in Geneva the UN mediator shuttled between the government delegation and the opposition delegation.

De Mistura said he hoped that the Geneva talks would create a momentum so that both sides enter into political discussions on a transition government, on a new constitution and on elections.

Without pointing the finger at any of the warring factions, de Mistura acknowledged that some would try to derail the talks.

“We have to outpace the few spoilers with momentum on the political track,” he said.

Russia has asked Damascus to halt military aerial operations during the Geneva negotiations, de Mistura announced.

Given Moscow’s request to its military ally “to silence their own skies”, other international powers should ask armed rebels to reciprocate, de Mistura said.

He did not specifically mention the United States, which is backing the rebels.

Russia and Turkey negotiated a truce in December.

While the opposition says that the ceasefire has been repeatedly violated and that Moscow is not doing enough to enforce it, de Mistura stated: “It is still fragile, but it is holding by and large.”

Previous rounds of UN-brokered talks in Geneva have failed as the opposition has demanded the quick resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, while the Government has rejected such a scenario.

De Mistura warned both delegations against setting preconditions: “I will refuse them,” he said.

Extremist groups that are also fighting in Syria, such as Isis (Islamic State), are not part of the peace talks.

The other parties to the Syrian war hope to defeat these radicals by military means.