Syrian opposition rejects peace talks in Russia and calls for UN-led dialogue
We believe that the report turned out to be superficial, unprofessional and amateurish MIKHAIL ULYANOV Russian foreign ministry
The main Syrian opposition body said yesterday that Russian-sponsored Syrian peace talks later this month undermine United Nations-led diplomatic efforts and were an attempt to bolster the position of president Bashar Al Assad’s government.
“We, in the High Negotiations Committee, insist on rejecting discussion of Syria’s future outside the legal UN framework,” the HNC said.
Russia hopes that all Syrian opposition groups will attend the conference in the Black Sea city of Sochi on November 18 despite some objections by opposition, Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said yesterday.
The leading Syrian opposition group is calling on the UN to reassume charge of the peace process, saying Russia is imposing its rules for Syria, where more than 400,000 people have been killed in a six-year-long civil war.
Asked if Moscow hoped to see opposition groups such as the HNC in attendance, Mr Bogdanov said he was optimistic.
“We hope that everyone who believes that the fate of the country, its unity, its territorial integrity and its sovereignty are important will participate,” he said.
Moscow has also invited the Kurdish authorities in the north of Syria to the Syrian Congress on National Dialogue, which would mark the first time Syria’s main Kurdish group would meet in peace talks.
More than 30 Syrian groups and political parties are expected to attend the talks on November 18, 10 days before the UN convenes its own talks between the government and opposition in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Sochi event was first mooted by Russian president Vladimir Putin last month. He said he believed that rebels in Syria would soon be defeated.
The Russians again avoided UN involvement in Syria when they dismissed a report by a UN-led panel that blamed the Syrian government for a sarin gas attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun as “superficial and unprofessional”.
“We believe that the report turned out to be superficial, unprofessional and amateurish,” said the foreign ministry’s security and disarmament department head, Mikhail Ulyanov. “The mission did their research from a distance. That in itself is a scandal.”
In their 14th report since 2011, UN investigators said they had in all documented 33 chemical weapons attacks to date.
Twenty-seven were by the government of Mr Al Assad, whom Moscow supports.
Russian forces are fighting alongside Syrian government troops against armed rebels and other opponents. Moscow says it is fighting a war on terrorism.