The Syrian government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva (Switzerland) 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 Bashar al-Assad as terrorists. It has also said that the focus of the talks should be on countering terrorism, while the opposition is pressing for Assad to step down as part of any peace deal. In a statement released by his office, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about reports from Syria and urged both sides “to avoid further escalation.” The Syrian government refers to all those fighting to overthrow Assad as terrorists and has said the talks should focus on battling terrorism. 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 Syria.
The Syrian government has announced its willingness to attend peace talks with the opposition in Geneva (Switzerland) 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 Bashar al-Assad as terrorists. It has also said that the focus of the talks should be on countering terrorism, while the opposition is pressing for Assad to step down as part of any peace deal. In a statement released by his office, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about reports from Syria and urged both sides “to avoid further escalation.” 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 Syria.