Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Beirut/Geneva: The main Syrian opposition council said on Wednesday the agenda proposed by the United Nations for peace talks was positive and it had noted fewer government violations of a cessation of hostilities agreement in the past day.
Salem Al Muslat, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), would take its final decision on whether to attend the Geneva talks very soon.
Speaking after UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks would focus on new governance, a constitution and elections, Muslat said it was positive that the talks would "start... with discussion of the matter of political transition".
"We heard what Mr de Mistura said. There are positive points, there are matters on the ground that we notice are moving in a positive way," he said.
He said aid was entering more areas, describing that development as "positive... if not complete".
Referring to the cessation of hostilities agreement that took effect on February 27, he said: "The violations of the truce were great at the start, but yesterday they were much fewer. There are perhaps some positive matters that we are seeing."
But he said a government blockade of the Damascus suburb of Daraya must be lifted in order to "pave the way to the start of negotiations". He added this was not a condition for the attending the talks but a humanitarian requirement.
De Mistura said on Wednesday that Syria's cessation of hostilities is open-ended, brushing off a perception that the truce needs renewing this weekend.
He told reporters he would now press on with more peace talks.
"From the UN point of view and the Geneva meetings we have been having on the task force and certainly (the) Munich understanding, there was an open-ended concept regarding the cessation of hostilities," he said after a meeting on Syrian humanitarian issues in Geneva.
The Munich meeting in February was a key point in Syrian peace process, when De Mistura asked its international backers, led by the United States and Russia, to do more to make the warring sides come to the table to negotiate.
They hatched a plan for a ceasefire, and the opposition High Negotiations Committee said it would support a two-week halt to the fighting.
De Mistura plans to launch substantive peace talks on Monday, and said they will focus on the core issues of governance, elections within 18 months and a new constitution.
The round of talks would not run beyond March 24, and there would then be a break before resuming, he said, without giving details.
Asked if the talks could be delayed further from an original start date of March 7, De Mistura said the format gave him a lot of flexibility.
The United Nations, which has delivered aid to 10 of 18 besieged areas across Syria in the last four weeks, is working to overcome obstacles and reach remaining areas, said Jan Egeland who chairs the humanitarian task force.
