Roundup: Syrian peace talks reach critical phase

The latest round of Syria peace talks, aiming to broker a political end to the five-year crisis, has reached a critical phase, main Syrian opposition group High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said Tuesday.

"We are here in Geneva because we want to have a real political transition in Syria to end this crisis," HNC head Riad Hijab said in a press conference, adding "it's unfortunate that our responsiveness and cooperation has been misunderstood."

The HNC accused the government of avoiding concrete discussions on the issue of political transition, while also deploring the dire humanitarian and security situation on the ground.

"This is why the HNC has made the decision yesterday to postpone our participation in negotiations, and will not be in UN Palais while our people are still suffering," Hijab said.

He added a small team would remain in Geneva to continue with technical discussions, though the bulk of the delegation have already or are set to leave shortly.

With little progress made to date, the likelihood of reaching a common understanding between warring factions is becoming slimmer and slimmer.

The Syrian government delegation has defended the legitimacy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule, labeling some of the groups included in the Saudi-backed HNC as "terrorists."

"We told (UN Special Envoy Staffan) De Mistura that what is being achieved in New York is being undone here in Geneva. Because while the UN Security Council has considered that the Mufti of Ahrar Ash-Sham a terrorist, this group has a representative here in Geneva who is accepted by the United Nations," said the head of the Syrian government delegation Bashar al-Jaafari.

Though the talks haven't completely broken down as they did in February, this development does not bode well for the UN's latest attempt to negotiate a political solution to a crisis which has killed over 250,000 people and displaced millions. The fate of al-Assad still remains a major sticking point, with the government delegation refusing to budge on the opposition's demands to remove him from power.

On the other end of the spectrum, the HNC has repeated that it will not compromise on its stance towards the incumbent president.

"There cannot be a political process that prolongs the life of this regime," said Hijab, calling for a clear timetable to be implemented to address the political process.

De Mistura said consultations would continue with both sides and that he would reassess the situation on Friday.

The diplomat is set to meet representatives of the Moscow-Cairo Group, the International Syria Support Group Ceasefire taskforce and members of the Internal Damascus Platform on Tuesday.

He is scheduled to meet again with the Syrian government delegation on Wednesday. Endit