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Syria Peace Talks Resuming With Divide Over Assad's Future

by VOA News March 14, 2016

U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is due to meet with Syria's warring parties for 'substantive' talks Monday in Geneva aimed at ending the country's five-year conflict.

He spoke Sunday with delegates from both the rebels and the Syrian government and plans for this round of peace talks to last about 10 days.

But serious questions remain about what each side is prepared to accept in order to stop the fighting that has already killed more than a quarter of a million people and led millions more to flee their homes.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future is not up for negotiation, while the opposition and many outside of Syria -- including the United States -- have said Assad must step down in order to achieve peace.

Mohammad Alloush, the chief negotiator for Syria's main opposition group, told the French news agency, 'We believe that the transitional period should start with the fall or death of Bashar al-Assad.'

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said Sunday in Geneva that setting preconditions contradicts the fundamentals of the talks and that the negotiations are between Syrians without interference by foreign governments.

The U.N. is mediating the peace talks, which at this point are indirect with Mistura talking only to one side at a time. The U.N. envoy is using an agreement reached by a group of world and regional powers last year in Vienna as the basis for negotiations. That document included a call for a cease-fire and having the Syrians work to reach an agreement that includes a roadmap for a new constitution and elections.

A cessation of hostilities has largely held for more than two weeks, though both sides have alleged violations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that violence has been 'hugely reduced' by 80 to 90 percent. But he accused the Syrian government of 'clearly trying to disrupt the peace talks, saying Assad's forces are the 'single biggest violator' of the cease-fire.

Kerry spoke after meeting with his British, French, German and Italian counterparts Sunday in Paris about the Syrian crisis.

U.N. officials say the cessation of hostilities agreement has made it possible for U.N. and partner agencies to deliver food, medicine and other aid to 115,000 Syrian civilians living in areas under siege by government or opposition forces. They say last year, aid agencies were unable to access any of these areas.

But Kerry said he continues to be "deeply concerned" about the Syrian government's efforts to deter the delivery of medical and surgical supplies.