Agreement on opposition needed for invites to Syria talks, delay possible: UN

The United Nations on Jan. 18 said it was waiting for regional powers spearheading the Syria peace process to agree on who will take part in talks scheduled to start in just one week's time and raised the possibility of a delay, as the foreign ministers of the head of the two camps in the Syrian war, U.S. and Russia, are to meet in Zurich on Jan. 20 to talk about Syria. 

The peace talks, the first between the Syrian government and the opposition since 2012, are scheduled to open in Geneva on Jan. 25, but invitations have yet to be sent to the delegations.

The 17 countries pushing for a peace deal, including the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, have been struggling to agree on the list of opposition leaders who will have a seat at the negotiating table.

"At this stage, the U.N. will proceed with issuing invitations when the countries spearheading the international Syrian Support Group process come to an understanding on who among the opposition should be invited," AFP quoted said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, as saying on Jan. 18.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "urges those countries to redouble efforts to reach that agreement," Haq said.

The Geneva talks are to pave the way to a new constitution and elections in 18 months to end Syria's five-year war, which has killed more than 260,000 people and triggered a mass refugee exodus to Europe.

The U.N. spokesman said there were "concerns about arrangements" that had yet to be resolved for the talks to go ahead and added: "If there is any kind of slippage, we will let you know." 

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