Syria peace talks begin with recriminations

Government and rebel negotiators trade insults as they meet face to face for the first time with strengthening a ceasefire as their priority.

Representatives of the Syrian government, rebel groups and other particpants at the first session of peace talks at the Rixos President Hotel in the Kazakh capital Astana on January 23, 2017. Kirill KShow more

ASTANA // Negotiators for the Syrian government and representatives of rebel factions traded accusations of terrorism after their first face-to-face meeting on Monday, as talks in Kazakhstan arranged by Russia and Turkey got off to a rocky start.

The gathering in Astana, the Kazakh capital, is the latest in a long line of diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the nearly six-year-old Syrian war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced half the country’s population. The talks are expected to focus on shoring up a shaky ceasefire declared last month and not on reaching a larger political settlement.

But Syria’s bitter divide was clear as the delegates emerged from a closed, hour-long session.

Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Ja’afari said the opposition delegation represented “terrorist armed groups”, and denounced the “provocative” and “insolent” opening address by the chief rebel negotiator.

The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammad Alloush, had described Syrian president Bashar Al Assad’s government as a “terrorist” entity, and called for armed groups fighting alongside it, including the Lebanese Shiite militia Hizbollah, to be placed on a global list of terrorist organisations, according to a video leaked by opposition delegates.

“The presence of foreign militias invited by the regime, most notably the Lebanese Hizbollah and the Iraqi Hizbollah ... contributes to the continuation of bloodshed and obstructs any opportunity for a ceasefire,” Mr Alloush said.

He added that such outfits were no different from the extremist group ISIL, which is excluded from the ceasefire.

The UN’s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is mediating the talks, which are to be followed by more negotiations in Geneva next month. This time last year, he was shuttling between government and opposition delegations seated in separate rooms in Geneva, in talks brokered by the United States and Russia that led nowhere.

The new US administration under president Donald Trump is not directly involved in the current talks, because of the “immediate demands of the transition,” the state department said. The US ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol, attended Monday’s opening session at the luxury Rixos President hotel in Astana.

The two sides were brought to the table by Russia and Iran, which support the Syrian government, and Turkey, a leading sponsor of the opposition. Turkey has recently improved its ties with Moscow, raising hopes for a breakthrough.

But the Syrian parties remain deeply divided over who is to blame for repeated violations of the December 30 ceasefire, and whether it should apply to the Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, which fights alongside mainstream rebel factions.

Mr Ja’afari accused the opposition of “misinterpreting the idea of the cessation of hostilities” and defended a government offensive in the Barada Valley outside Damascus. The fighting there has cut off water supply to millions of the capital’s residents for more than a month.

The government, which has always portrayed the conflict as a war on terrorism, is hoping to garner international support and potentially recruit rebel factions to help it battle extremist groups. A Syrian cabinet minister, Ali Haidar, said the talks in Astana were a “juncture to test intentions” on the ceasefire.

Osama Abo Zayd, a member of the rebel delegation, said the negotiations were limited to strengthening the ceasefire. “There’s no significance to negotiations if the people on whose behalf we are negotiating are being killed,” he said.

Syria’s conflict began with an Arab Spring-inspired uprising against the Assad family’s four-decade rule, but escalated into a civil war after the government violently cracked down on dissent and the opposition took up arms. The fighting is estimated to have killed more than 400,000 people since the uprising began in March 2011.

In past negotiations, the rebels have insisted that Mr Al Assad step down as part of any peace plan, but his fate is not up for negotiation at Astana. In another departure, the current opposition delegation is drawn mainly from armed groups, rather than civilian organisations.

Iran’s foreign ministry said preserving the ceasefire would be “the most important issue” on the agenda, and that Tehran hoped the talks could pave the way for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi suggested that discussions over a larger political settlement would have to wait.

“Let’s wait and see how the process can be continued based on conclusions that will be announced Tuesday,” he said.

* Associated Press