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Diplomats Meet In Geneva To Prepare Syria Peace Conference

November 05, 2013

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, has opened talks with senior diplomats in Geneva in a new drive to set the stage for a Syria peace conference, dubbed 'Geneva 2.'

Brahimi met with Russian deputy foreign ministers Gennady Gatilov and Mikhail Bogdanov, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, and U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford.

The closed-door meeting is set to be widened later to include envoys from the other three UN Security Council members -- China, France, and Britain.

Representatives from Syria's neighbors Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as the Arab League, will also take part.

Meanwhile, Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted an unnamed source at the preparatory talks as saying that Geneva 2 will not be held this month, as previously hoped. The source said the conference would take place 'no earlier than December.'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that both the Assad regime and the opposition should attend Geneva 2.

'I hope that the Syrian government, and the Russians, and Iranians, and others who support the Syrian regime will make certain that the Syrian regime will live up to its obligation to come to Geneva to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria,' Kerry said.

Kerry, speaking in Warsaw, said the purpose of Geneva 2 would be to implement plans for a transitional government in Syria that were tentatively agreed upon at the Geneva 1 conference last year.

The Geneva 1 talks left open the question of whether Assad must leave power.

The Syrian opposition has insisted that Assad and his regime have no place in any future transitional government.

However, Damascus has reiterated that Assad will stay in power come what may, casting doubt on the political transition that is the main focus of the proposed Geneva 2 conference.

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said on November 4, 'We will not go to Geneva in order to hand over power.... If that was the case, we would have handed it over in Damascus and saved the effort and price of the airline ticket.'

In a related development, Russia -- Assad's main international backer -- said Iran must be invited to any peace talks. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the statement in Moscow:

'All those with influence on the situation [in Syria] must certainly be invited to the conference,' he said. 'This includes not only Arab countries but also Iran.'

Lavrov spoke after Ahmad Jarba, the chief of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said his group would not attend Geneva 2 if Tehran took part.

With reporting by AP and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-peace-conference- geneva-planning/25158627.html

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Diplomats Meet In Geneva To Prepare Syria Peace Conference