Syria regime ‘sets new conditions’ in Geneva

UN-brokered peace talks on Syria continued yesterday in Geneva as mediators tried to kick-start face-toface discussions between the opposition and regime representatives.

But opposition spokesman Yahya Aridi said the Damascus delegation had told Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy, they would not negotiate directly.

Mr Aridi said the opposition considered face-to-face talks “to be a precondition”.

The opposition also said the government delegation was coming up with new conditions, making it difficult to move forward.

There was no immediate response from the government team in Switzerland, which met again with Mr de Mistura yesterday.

Despite the lack of progress in Geneva so far, Mr Aridi said the UN-brokered talks presented an opportunity to begin a political process that “is the only lasting solution for our national nightmare”.

“The opportunity is to sit down, face-to-face … and begin negotiations on political transition on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254,” Mr Aridi said.

“Our goal is a transition to make Syria safe for our people to come home,” he said.

After arriving a day late to the talks, which began on November 28, the government delegation left Geneva on December 2 in protest at the opposition’s insistence on the absence of president Bashar Al Assad from any future transition period.

Delegates returned on Sunday, however, and have since resumed talks with UN officials.