UN drives new Syrian initiative

PROPS: ASSAD ALLIES, IRAN AND RUSSIA, ‘STEADFAST’

Four-year-old conflict shows no sign of resolution.

Beirut- Geneva

The United Nations (UN) launched talks on Syria this week, but played down expectations this latest initiative would end a four-year-old conflict that has defied all diplomatic efforts to resolve it.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said he wanted to talk to diplomats, activists and political and military leaders to see if there was any new common ground since a roadmap for ending the war was declared in 2012.

Diplomats are sceptical his efforts will come to anything, but agree much has changed, both on the battlefield and in the relationships between allies and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, this year alone.

“The balance of power has shifted,” said one Western diplomat who tracks Syria. “The government sees they have lost some battles but not the war. But it could still be the beginning of the end, everything is possible.”

Diplomats say Assad’s inner circle remains strong after government defections earlier in the uprising, while main allies Iran and Russia are steadfast.

Hardliners, including Islamic State, have advanced at the expense of mainstream rebels since the last talks in Geneva in February last year. US-led forces have been striking the group in Iraq and in Syria since the summer.

De Mistura, whose two predecessors resigned at the failure to make headway, has already had to drop his first initiative – a proposed freeze to hostilities in the city of Aleppo, which he hoped could expand into a wider truce.

Participants invited include the Syrian government, opposition groups, non-jihadist armed factions, civil society members, non-governmental organisations and representatives of five major world powers. – Reuters