Syria Gov’t, Opposition to Discuss Geneva Communique Tuesday

Syria’s government and opposition are to discuss Geneva communiqué on Tuesday as international conference aimed at ending the deadly crisis is to resume nearly a week after it started last Wednesday.

International envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi admitted as the talks closed on Monday that the negotiatiInformation minister Omran Zohbions “haven’t produced much”. But he said he would bring the country’s warring sides together again on Tuesday for another attempt at political discussions.

“Tomorrow we are going to put forward the Geneva communique… Then we are going to decide with them how we are going to proceed in discussing its many elements,” he said, in reference to a text agreed by world powers in 2012 that calls for the creation of a transitional governing body in Syria.

“We are doing what the situation allows, what the market can bear,” he told reporters when pressed on the slow pace of peace efforts.
Monday marked the third day of UN-sponsored talks between the two sides in Geneva and the first dealing with political issues.

After Monday’s session broke up quickly, Syrian government delegation member Buthaina Shaaban said the government had presented “political principles which we thought no two Syrian persons should disagree with.”

Shaaban said the principles included protecting the country’s sovereignty, preserving state institutions and stopping the threat from terrorist”groups.
“We were surprised that this basic paper was rejected by the other side,” she said referring to the foreign-backed opposition.

Rima Fleihan, a member of the opposition National Coalition’s delegation, said: “The discussions were not constructive today because of the regime’s strategy to deflect… (and) change the subject by talking of terrorism.”
Officials on both sides said they had no plans to leave the talks however.