Brahimi in talks with Russians, Americans over Syria

Brahimi in talks with Russians, Americans over Syria
Tue Nov 5, 2013 20:59:25

UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has met Russian and American diplomats in Switzerland over the long-delayed talks over Syria crisis.

On Tuesday, Brahimi met with senior Russian and American diplomats in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The meeting comes ahead of the planned conference, dubbed the Geneva 2, on the crisis in the Arab country.

The Tuesday talks were aimed at discussing details of the proposed conference.

Russia and the US have been pushing to bring the Syrian government and the opposition to the negotiating table.

Syrian government has announced its readiness for talks, but the opposition says it won’t attend if there is no date set for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave.

The Geneva 2 conference is seen as a chance to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict. The event has been delayed for months, but Moscow and Washington are now trying to fix a date for it in late November.

Brahimi will continue the talks with representatives of other UN Security Council member states later on Tuesday.

The UN-Arab League envoy has met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and members of the Syria opposition as part of a Middle East tour to muster support for the long-awaited Geneva meeting.

On Monday, Syria Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Damascus will not participate in the conference if the aim is for President Assad to relinquish power.

"We will not go to Geneva to hand over power as desired by (Saudi Foreign Minister Saud) al-Faisal and certain opponents abroad," he said.
On October 27, over 20 foreign-backed Takfiri groups operating inside Syria rejected the planned Geneva 2 conference as well.

The war in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for over two years.

SHI/SHI

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