Russia has welcomed the decision of Syria's government to dispatch a delegation to the January peace conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to negotiate a way out of the ongoing crisis with no pre-conditions.The statement was made today on the heels of the meeting between Syrian ambassador in Moscow, Riyad Haddad, with Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
The Assad administration said on November 27 it was ready to go to the negotiating table without any prerequisites.
The meeting between the Syrian ambassador and the Russian foreign policy official zeroed in on the preparations to the Geneva-2 conference, which is slated for January 22.
Syrian opposition to attend Geneva-2
The Syrian National Coalition opposition group will attend the Geneva-2 talks in January aimed at resolving the civil war, its president, Ahmad Jarba, said on Wednesday.
The Syrian National Coalition opposition group will attend the Geneva-2 talks in January aimed at resolving the civil war, its president, Ahmad Jarba, said on Wednesday.
In an interview with Reuters, he also said regional power Iran should only be allowed to attend if it stopped taking part in the bloodshed in Syria and withdrew its forces and proxies.
The Coalition had previously said it was ready to attend if humanitarian aid corridors were set up and political prisoners released. It insists that President Bashar al-Assad can play no future role in Syria.
"We are now ready to go to Geneva," said Jarba on a visit to Cairo, adding that the opposition views the Geneva talks as a step to a leadership transition and a "genuine democratic transformation in Syria".
"There is no way that the individual responsible for the destruction of the country can be responsible for building the country," said Jarba, referring to Assad.
Syria said on Wednesday that Western countries which also demand that Assad step down should either stop "dreaming" or forget attending the peace talks.
Jarba rejected the idea of Iran attending "under the current reality".
"Iran is responsible for and takes part in the killing in Syria in a very clear way. It killed thousands of Syrians with its Revolutionary Guards and mercenaries from Hizbollah, which is considered a terrorist group," he said.
"If Iran is serious about resolving the Syrian crisis, it must first withdraw its Revolutionary Guards and (Lebanese) Hizbollah mercenaries."
Iran is the main backer, along with Russia, of Assad during a conflict that has lasted more than two years, killed more than 100,000 people and uprooted millions more. Tehran has said it would attend Geneva 2 if invited and on Wednesday called for a ceasefire ahead of the talks scheduled for Jan. 22.
Syria opposition hopes to send united delegation to Geneva peace talks
The Syrian National Coalition and the National Council, two major coalitions of Syrian opposition groups, have vowed to form a united delegation to speak with one voice at the long-overdue Geneva-2 peace conference, the groups representative has announced.
Abdel Wahed Astifo said the National Coalition united several political groups, had its own political agenda and goals, one of them being President Bashar Assads step-down.
"Every party or opposition group that shares our agenda becomes part of the Coalition, so I think it wont be difficult for us to come up a united delegation that will travel to Geneva-2," he claimed.
By Voice Of Russia
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