Syria peace talks in Geneva this week should benefit from a tighter
format and a deal to reduce the violence, U.N. mediator Staffan de
Mistura said on Monday, playing down dismissive comments by President
Bashar al-Assad.
Previous rounds of talks
have produced agreement that the warring sides will discuss a four-part
agenda, but no progress has yet been made on any topic.
Under
pressure from international backers, the two sides have agreed to
discuss a new constitution, reformed governance, new elections and the
fight against terrorism, but they differ sharply over what those agenda
items mean.
Assad, backed by Russia and
Iran, is keen on discussing "terrorism", a term he uses broadly to
describe all adversaries. Opposition negotiators have demanded Assad's
removal, something his backers think is fanciful in the face of his
military advances in the civil war, now in its seventh year.
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| UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura. (Reuters) |
Last week Assad told Belarusian TV channel
ONT that the Geneva talks were "merely a meeting for the media" and
there had been "nothing substantial in all the Geneva meetings".
De
Mistura said Assad's negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari had arrived in
Geneva with an 18-strong negotiating delegation "empowered for serious
discussions". He denied the United Nations was being used as a
diplomatic smokescreen for more war.
"If
being a mediator and trying to find common points (means) 'being used', I
would accept that. The alternative is no discussion, no hope, no
political horizon, just waiting for facts on the ground to take place,"
de Mistura told reporters.
"Facts on the
ground" - U.N. jargon meaning "war" - will not produce a political
solution to the intractable conflict which all sides had committed, he
said.
Opposition negotiator Nasr al-Hariri told reporters he wanted a comprehensive ceasefire across Syria.
“The road to Syria’s freedom runs through Geneva," he said.
"That’s
why we have come here to Geneva committed to negotiate a political
solution and that’s why Assad is frightened of this process. He is
afraid to engage on the agenda of political solution.”
De
Mistura said the United States, which has supported the opposition in
the past, was increasingly engaged and interested in the process, and he
hinted at high-level diplomacy going on behind the scenes.
"Everything
is connected. There are big important meetings taking place, that will
be taking place. There are discussions taking place in capitals. They do
have an impact on what we discuss. But I am not going to elaborate
now," he said.
The Geneva round of talks
comes on the heels of a deal by Russia, Turkey and Iran to arrange and
monitor "de-escalation zones" in Syria to ease the fighting.
Previous
rounds in Geneva have proceeded at funereal pace, punctuated by what
critics have called grandstanding media appearances by rival
negotiators.
This round will be shorter
and more business-like, starting on Tuesday and ending by Saturday, and
with less room for rhetoric, de Mistura said.
"Even
the rooms will be smaller, the type of meetings will be a little bit
more interactive and proactive and more frequent, we will also choose
some subjects to be focused on in order to get more movement," he said
Source: Al arabiya
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