Geneva peace talks on Syria

Members of the main Syrian opposition group said Feb. 1 that they plan to give U.N. Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura a "roadmap" for implementation of their humanitarian demands on Syria that they say must happen before they formally join indirect peace talks with a government delegation in Geneva.

Talks between the UN special envoy for Syria and government representatives tentatively planned for Feb. 1 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in Geneva have been "rescheduled" to allow talks with the opposition first, the UN said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir on Jan. 31 voiced support for Syrian opposition figures who have travelled to Geneva for UN-brokered peace talks.

The U.N. Syria envoy said yesterday that he was "optimistic and determined" following an informal meeting with the main opposition group, after it had threatened to leave before planned peace talks begin in earnest as fresh violence hit the country. 

The United Nations said on Jan. 29 it still expects Syria peace talks in Geneva to begin later in the day, despite uncertainty over whether key opposition groups would attend.
 
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura "will start by meeting the government's delegation today (Friday)" headed by Syria's UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, the UN said in a statement.
   

The parties set to participate in long-anticipated talks in Geneva to resolve Syria's civil war continued to fire salvos at one another on Jan. 28, jeopardizing the chances of convening the meeting in time following bitter disagreements about who should be permitted to join the opposition side.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Jan. 27 that the United Nations' special envoy to Syria had told him that he would not be inviting the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to peace talks in Geneva scheduled to start on Jan. 29 and that a Riyadh-backed opposition group would lead the negotiations. 

It is impossible to reach a peace agreement in Syria without inviting Kurds to take part in the negotiating process, as it would be "unfair" and "counter-productive," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Jan. 26.

Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open on Jan. 25, will instead begin in Geneva on Jan. 29 and last for six months, the United Nations' Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said.  

Syria's government told a U.N. envoy on Jan. 9 it was ready to participate in Geneva peace talks later this month but said officials wanted to know who would take part from the opposition. 

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who met U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura in Damascus, also demanded a list of groups that would be classified as terrorist, state media reported.