Syria says it won’t give up power in talks

DAMASCUS, Syria — The Syrian government said Wednesday that it will participate in U.N.-sponsored peace talks aimed at ending the country’s civil war, but insisted that it is not going to the conference to hand over power.

The United Nations on Monday announced that the long-delayed peace talks will begin Jan. 22 in Geneva. The meeting, which would be the first face-to-face talks between President Bashar Assad’s government and its opponents since the Syrian war began, has raised hopes that a resolution to a conflict that activists say has killed more than 120,000 people could be within reach.

In Tehran, the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers called for a ceasefire as soon as possible, saying a halt in fighting would enhance chances of peace talks succeeding. Even the most modest attempts to stop the war, now in its third year, have failed.

The two ministers declined to give details of the latest cease-fire efforts when they talked to reporters at a joint news conference Wednesday.

There is also no decision on the full list of participants. The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group has said it is ready to attend, but wants the government to establish humanitarian corridors and release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure before it makes a decision.

In a statement Wednesday, Syria’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the government will attend, saying Assad will send an official delegation to the Geneva conference. The ministry stressed that the representatives “will be going to Geneva not to hand over power to anyone” but to meet with those “who support a political solution for Syria’s future.”

The Syrian opposition and its supporters insist that Assad cannot be part of a transitional government.

In a jab at Britain and France, the Foreign Ministry said if Paris and London “insist on holding fast to these illusions” there is no place for Assad in a transitional period, then “there is no need for them to attend Geneva 2.”