Spotlight: 12-point paper to form backbone of future Syrian talks

As the latest round of talks seeking to broker a political end to the Syrian crisis concludes, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura hoped that a paper outlining 12 points of commonality between warring factions would form the basis for substantive negotiations in April.

"These are guiding principles, we are not getting into the details of what is the mother of all issues, the political transition," the special envoy warned in a wrap-up press conference on Thursday.

"But if you look carefully, you will see that there is a reference to the Geneva communique in its entirety. If you look even more carefully, you will see that there is reference to Resolution 2254, which includes governance, constitution and elections," he added.

Among other points, the document calls for the respect of the territorial integrity of Syria which is to be a democratic, non-sectarian state embracing its cultural, historical, ethnic and religious diversity.

According to the paper, "women shall enjoy equality of rights and representation in all institutions and decision-making structures at a level of at least 30 percent during the transition and thereafter."

Also outlined is Syria's rejection of terrorist groups as defined by UN Security Council definitions, its ambition to rebuild a unified national army and the need to accommodate all refugees and internally displaced people wishing to return to their homes.

With the next stage of talks expected to resume on April 9, de Mistura said that these principles should enable the Syrian Government delegation and its Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) counterpart to engage in more substantive negotiations aiming to end the five-year conflict which has seen over 250,000 people die as a result of protracted fighting.

"By looking at those twelve points you can see that there is a lot common ground," said de Mistura who also reminded that the cessation of hostilities agreement in place since Feb. 27 and the delivery of humanitarian aid inside the war-torn nation are unsustainable without a political process.

According to the UN envoy, the month-long truce in Syria has saved 3,000 lives so far.

Against the backdrop of talks suspended last month after delegations failed to see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, this latest round of proximity negotiations which kicked-off on March 14, a day which also saw Russia orders withdrawing most of its forces from Syria, has been relatively successful.

"Both sides behaved very seriously, very professionally," noted de Mistura, who also welcomed the fact that no breakdown or walkouts had taken place.

While no consensus on political transition and the fate of al-Assad has been reached by factions at loggerheads over other major sticking points such as humanitarian access, the release of detainees and terrorism, negotiations have yielded a modicum of hope for future consultations.

"I'm expecting and hoping that the next round of talks will not focus on principles again, we have had enough of that and there are many valid common points there, but start focusing on the political process," de Mistura said. Endit