The UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura called on rival sides to meet their historic responsibility and seek a deal to end the six-year war ahead of a full day of talks set for Friday.
The negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva formally opened Thursday with de Mistura dampening hopes of a breakthrough.
“I’m not expecting miracles,” he said at a welcoming ceremony while warning of dire consequences if the talks “fail again”.
“This is… our solemn responsibility… a historical responsibility not to condemn the future generations of Syrian children to long years of bitter and bloody conflict,” he said.
Syrian government negotiators are meeting the representatives of the foreign-backed armed opposition for a fourth round of UN-brokered talks.
De Mistura said he would hold bilateral meetings Friday devoted largely to procedure.
The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has said it wants to meet the government face-to-face.
Two other opposition groups based in Moscow and Cairo, who are also in the Swiss city, also want a seat at the table but the HNC has insisted it should remain the only opposition delegation.
De Mistura said his “dream” was to have one opposition grouping but noted that key divisions persist, especially over Assad’s fate.
“It’s still not very clear. Many questions remain up in the air. We still don’t know if it will be direct negotiations. And we still don’t know what will happen with the Cairo and Moscow groups,” a western diplomat told AFP.
Source: AFP
