Reiterating Syrian government’s determination to fight terrorism, Ja'afari said, “Today (Satuday) the Syrian delegation accepted Lakhdar Brahimi’s proposal despite the fact that the opposition thought we would turn it down.”
“We underscored that it is necessary to reach a consensus on the first part of the talks, i.e. stopping violence and fighting terrorism, and then consider the other issues. The opposition wants to sideline the issue of fighting terrorism,” Ja'afari added.
Addressing the Syrian nation, the Arab country’s UN ambassador further stated, “We will leave no stone unturned in bringing the crisis to an end.”
Ja'afari also reiterated that “the opposition is not independent.”
He added “At first, they (the opposition) claimed that there is no terrorists in Syria. Everybody was taken aback by their claim. However, Lakhdar Brahimi succeeded in talking them into considering the issue of terrorism.”
Ja'afari also said, “The disagreement erupted when they brought their own personal interpretation to the negotiating table. The opposition was expected to declare its overt commitment to fight terrorism and not to sideline it.”
“The Coalition is not capable of halting terrorism in the country,” the senior Syrian negotiator concluded.
The second round of peace talks between Syrian government and the so-called Syrian National Coalition ended without making any tangible progress on Saturday.
RA/MB