“Before making any decisions, we need to know what Assad’s role would be. “I believe the opposition would find it impossible to hold talks over a government that still had Assad at its head,” said Samir Nashar of the opposition’s umbrella National Coalition. Most opposition figures have ruled out talks unless Assad and his inner circle are excluded from any future transitional government. statement said.īut with Syria’s factional and sectarian hatreds more entrenched than ever, it is far from clear the warring parties are ready to negotiate with each other. “The Secretary-General and Joint Special Representative (Lakhdar) Brahimi have asserted from the outset their conviction that a negotiated political solution is the only way to end this prolonged and ever-deepening crisis, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the announcement by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Israeli air strikes, reports of the use of chemical weapons and the increasing prominence of al Qaeda-linked militants among the rebels have all added to international urgency for an end to a war that has killed more than 70,000 people. efforts to settle the Syrian conflict for two years, so any rapprochement could bring an international common front closer than it has been for many months. Secretary of State John Kerry said late on Tuesday that Russia agreed to work on a conference in the coming weeks.Īn East-West disagreement that has seen some of the frostiest exchanges between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War has deadlocked U.N. Visiting Moscow after Israel bombed sites near Damascus and as President Barack Obama also faces renewed calls to arm the rebels, U.S. Mindful the conflict may be far from over, Britain has urged fellow European Union states to lift an arms embargo, arguing it would strengthen those rebel groups favoured by Western powers. A torn picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen on a government building in Raqqa province, east Syria May 8, 2013.
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