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Syrian gov't chief negotiator says talks still in "stage of preparations'

Xinhua, February 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The head of the Syrian government delegation on Tuesday declined to agree with the United Nations(UN) representative that the new round of Geneva peace talks has been "officially" started, saying that they are still at a "stage of preparations".

Bashar al-Jaafari, the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to UN and the head of the government team, told reporters that they are still waiting for the list of a clear agenda and names of participants.

Earlier on Monday evening, following a two-hour meeting with the Syrian main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told the press that intra-Syrian talks aiming to broker a lasting peace for the country at war since 2011 had officially started.

"As far as we are concerned, their arrival to the Palais des Nations and initiating the discussions with us is the official beginning of the Geneva talks," the diplomat stated.

However, after meeting with de Mistura Tuesday morning, the Syrian government's chief negotiator told reporters that they still don't know who the opposition delegation is and whom they will negotiate with.

The new round of Syrian peace talks was first announced as kicking off on January 29 in Geneva's Palais des Nations with the arrival of the Syrian government delegation, despite its opposition counterpart not being present in the Swiss city.

Later on January 31, the UN Envoy paid a "courtesy visit" to the delegation of the main Syrian opposition at their hotel in Geneva following their arrival in the previous evening.

After announcing the "official beginning" of the Geneva Intra-Syrian Talks on February 1, de Mistura also told reporters that his first immediate objective for the talks is to "make sure that the talks continue and that everyone is on board". Enditem