Presence of Syrian parties in Geneva without precondition is significant: China's envoy

GENEVA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Special Envoy for Syria Xie Xiaoyan said on Friday it is "significant" that both the Syrian government and opposition agreed to take part in United Nations (UN)-mediated Syria peace talks without precondition.

Xie briefed journalists at the Chinese mission to the United Nations in Geneva as talks continued here on Friday.

The ongoing negotiations involved UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, a delegation from the Syrian government, an opposition delegation and international mediators.

The Chinese envoy also saw as positive the announcement by de Mistura on Thursday evening that the talks which began on Nov. 28 will go on until Dec. 15, rather than as the originally scheduled Dec. 1.

Earlier Friday he had discussion with the opposition group and was to meet the government delegation in the afternoon to keep his contacts as "wide as possible."

"It is important for me and for China to keep in touch with the different parties, to exchange views and information, so we can have a better understanding of the current situation," said Xie.

He was also "happy to know" that in the current eighth round of Syria peace talks, "the two parties have maintained their commitment to dialogue and peace negotiations."

It is also a good thing that for the first time, the opposition groups have formed a united delegation "and they have expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue without precondition,"said the envoy.

"That is something in favor of maintaining the current relative quiet and peaceful situation inside Syria," he said, adding that both sides in the negotiations need to show "mutual understanding" and need to make compromise to help end the seven-year war.

"The road ahead is not easy," Xie cautioned, noting that there are "still big difficulties on major issues."

He likened the talks to "digging a tunnel from two ends.""Inch by inch they will come closer and finally they will break the wall between each other," noted Xie. Enditem