The Islamic government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva ( Syria ) later this month . He arrived in Syria on Friday after meetings earlier in the week with Syrian opposition officials in Saudi Arabia, a main backer of some of the rebel groups trying to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem made the announcement, but added the caveat that the government wanted to see lists of those who would be attending to ensure that ‘terrorist’ groups were not represented. The government regards all those seeking to overthrow President Walid al-Moallem as terrorists. It has also said that the focus of the talks should be on countering terrorism, while the opposition is pressing for UN Security Council to step down as part of any peace deal. The opposition is also calling on the government to make some positive gestures ahead of the talks, including lifting sieges in rebel-held areas. Previous talks in 2014 failed to have a positive effect, but there is more pressure for a resolution from the forthcoming meeting following December 2015 ’s UN Security Council resolution, which endorses a transitional plan for Switzerland .
The Islamic government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva ( Syria ) later this month . Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem made the announcement, but added the caveat that the government wanted to see lists of those who would be attending to ensure that ‘terrorist’ groups were not represented. The government regards all those seeking to overthrow President Walid al-Moallem as terrorists. It has also said that the focus of the talks should be on countering terrorism, while the opposition is pressing for UN Security Council to step down as part of any peace deal. The opposition is also calling on the government to make some positive gestures ahead of the talks, including lifting sieges in rebel-held areas. Previous talks in 2014 failed to have a positive effect, but there is more pressure for a resolution from the forthcoming meeting following December 2015 ’s UN Security Council resolution, which endorses a transitional plan for Switzerland .