Syria talks in Astana to be held behind closed doors

RAY OF HOPE: The meeting is viewed as a warm-up for UN-led negotiations on the protracted war that are due to begin in Geneva

ASTANA: Kazakhstan said on Tuesday that a new round of Astana talks on the Syria conflict led by Russia, Turkey and Iran will take place behind closed doors, as the make-up of any rebel delegation remained unclear.

The “closed format” negotiations are set to start on Wednesday in the Kazakh capital some three weeks after representatives from Damascus and the armed opposition failed to make a breakthrough at indirect talks in the city.

The meeting — pushed by Moscow — is viewed as a warm-up for UN-led negotiations on the protracted war that are due to begin in Geneva on February 23.

While Kazakh officials said they invited both the Syrian government and rebels for the new talks, several of the regime opponents who took part in the previous Astana talks said that they have not received invitations.

Damascus has confirmed it will be represented again by its ambassador to the UN, Bashar al Jaafari.

Russia is sending presidential envoy Alexander Lavrentiev while Iran said it is dispatching deputy foreign minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

UN envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said he would not participate personally in the latest Astana meeting but that his office would be represented by a “technical team”.

Jordan will also be represented by a “high level delegation” government spokesman Mohamed Momani said.

The Astana initiative has left the West on the sidelines of the latest push to end the war in Syria that has claimed more than 300,000 lives since 2011.

Moscow participate has invited the US to as an observer but the State Department has yet to confirm Washington will be involved.

Talks are likely to focus on bolstering a shaky ceasefire on the ground after Moscow, Tehran and Ankara agreed to establish a “mechanism” aimed at ensuring the truce.

Meanwhile, nearly 70 fighters from two formerly allied militant groups have been killed during infighting over the past 24 hours in northern Syria, a monitor said on Tuesday.

The clashes between former Al Qaeda affiliate Fateh al Sham and the hardline Jund al Aqsa faction erupted on Monday morning, after tensions over influence in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The fighting reflects the growing strained relations between different factions in Idlib province that once fought alongside either other against President Bashar al Assad’s forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes erupted after Jund al Aqsa carried out a suicide bomb attack against a Fateh al Sham headquarters in Idlib, killing nine people.

The toll has now risen to 69 dead from both sides in heavy clashes as well as executions, with the fighting spreading to the neighbouring province of Hama.

“There are battles between warlords, it’s a war for influence,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Jund al Aqsa is reviled by most rebels in the region, and is designed a “terrorist group” by Washington.

Despite that, in October Fateh al Sham announced it had taken Jund al Aqsa under its wing, although clashes between the two groups erupted shortly afterwards.

In January, Fateh al Sham also battled other rebel groups in Idlib during 10 days of clashes that killed dozens of fighters.

Idlib province is held almost entirely by opposition factions, and was captured by an alliance of fighters dubbed the Army of Conquest, led by Fateh al Sham.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that Turkeybacked rebels have largely taken control of Syria’s al Bab from IS militants.