Syria opposition en route to crunch Geneva peace talks

{Main opposition group travelling to Switzerland but wants humanitarian issues addressed before it will talk politics.}

A delegation representing Syria’s main opposition bloc was travelling to Geneva to assess the intentions of the Syrian government in implementing humanitarian measures that could allow it to join peace settlement negotiations, an opposition representative said.

A 17-strong team including the head of the the Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) Riad Hijab and lead negotiator Asaad al-Zoubi would depart from the Saudi capital, the Reuters news agency reported.

The delegation was expected to arrive in Switzerland late on Saturday.

On Friday, HNC member Farah Atassi said the delegation was coming “not to negotiate” with the government yet, but to talk to UN officials after receiving reassurances from the organisation.

Atassi spoke at a Geneva hotel not far from the UN offices where UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura and Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari were meeting.

HNC spokesman Monzer Makhous said that the opposition had not changed a previous position that it would not travel to Switzerland if specific conditions for talking were not met.

“Yes, we will go to Geneva to be present but we will not attend the talks at all unless the regime fulfils our humanitarian demands, which specify stoppage to bombings and starvation of civilians in besieged areas as a condition,” Makhous said.

“Today we received guarantees that these issues will be addressed in addition to political transition of power. We will not accept anything else unless we see these demands met on the ground.”

250,000 dead

Mistura said he believed he would be able to meet the HNC on Sunday.

The talks are the first since two rounds of negotiations collapsed in 2014. Syria’s conflict has killed more than 250,000 people, displaced millions and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing as refugees to Europe.

The meetings are part of a process outlined in a UN resolution last month that envisages an 18-month timetable for a political transition, including the drafting of a new constitution and elections.

Disputes are ongoing over which opposition parties should attend, with the HNC bloc facing criticism from the Syrian government and Russia for including the Army of Islam group, which controls wide territory near the capital.

Earlier on Friday, UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi reflected the sense of chaos and confusion surrounding the beginning of the negotiations when he told reporters at a briefing: “I don’t have a time, I don’t have the exact location, and I can’t tell you anything about the delegation.”

Source:Al Jazeera:[Syria opposition en route to crunch Geneva peace talks->http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/syria-main-opposition-group-join-talks-geneva-160129182452541.html]