Syria gov’t ‘proved sincerity’ in Geneva II: Analyst

The Syrian government proved that it is sincere in its attempts to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria by participating in a recent international conference in Switzerland, says an analyst, Press TV reports.

The Syrian government and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition as well as dozens of nations participated in the conference, generally referred to as Geneva II, in late January.

“I think when we would estimate even neutrally what happened in Geneva II… we would find that Syrian leadership proved its sincerity for the aims of the Syrian government, which is to seek a peaceful course,” said political commentator Tahsin al-Halabi in an interview with Press TV on Friday.

Halabi said that Damascus belied claims by the foreign-backed opposition and “the adversaries of the Syrian government” that the Syrian government “is not seeking a peaceful course or a real solution for the internal problems of Syria, whether… political ones or economic ones or external foreign relations.”

During the Geneva II conferece, the Syrian foreign-backed opposition the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC) repeated its demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.

The Syrian government rejected the demand, arguing that the foreign-backed SNC does not represent the Syrian opposition.

Halabi referred to the strong position of the Syrian government, which was represented at the Geneva II talks by Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, and said Damascus “embarrassed” the opposition as Muallem publicly presented to the world its fundamental principles, which the opposition did not dare deal with.

Syria has already announced that it will attend a next round of the talks also planned to be held in Geneva on February 10.