On Saturday in Vienna after talks attended by senior officials from 19 countries, US Secretary of State John Kerry said negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition should start by January 1.
Kerry added that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and al-Nusra Front were designated as terrorist organisations and would not be part of a ceasefire or talks.
Addressing reporters alongside the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, the US official said that a transitional government for Syria is to be set in six months, with hopes for elections in 18 months' time.
He added, however that, "we still differ on what happens to [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad".
Lavrov said that the majority of delegates wanted an immediate ceasefire in Syria.
'Tall order'
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from the Austrian capital, said: "This seems to be a pretty big breakthrough."
Previous rounds of talks held in Vienna in recent weeks, also with delegates from several countries including those invested in Syria's war - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the US and Turkey - had failed.
"They are committed to getting this done under the auspices of the UN," our correspondent added. "But regarding the inclusion of the opposition - that's going to be tricky. The opposition is a fractious body, there are a lot of different groups that claim to be the legitimate Syrian opposition.
"The call for elections within 18 months is also a tall order."
Evan Barrett, an advisor to the US-based Coalition for a Democratic Syria, said Russia seeks to persuade Western states to re-classify some Syrian rebel groups as terrorists in a bid to bolster Assad’s government.
"Without any guarantees over the fate of Assad, the prosecution of war crimes, or opposition participation in a future government, it's hard to see how the opposition could accept this framework," Barrett told Al Jazeera.
Paris attacks weigh
The meeting came under extra pressure as the aftermath of a deadly round of attacks in France's capital took centre stage.
"Daesh [ISIL] has claimed it is behind this," said Kerry. "We have seen nothing to lead us to a different conclusion," he said in French after the talks.
Kerry earlier said that the attacks were an "assault on our common humanity," and promised that the violence had strengthened the group's resolve to find solutions to end Syria's war.
In Syria, Assad's forces, emboldened by Russian and Iranian support, this week seized an opposition bastion on the Aleppo-Damascus highway and broke a siege by ISIL on Kweyris air base in the east of Aleppo province.
According to Jennifer Cafarella, from the Institute for the Study of War think tank, pro-government forces are enjoying a "morale boost" and appear poised to re-take the besieged regime towns of Kefraya and Fuaa and advance on Idlib province.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Russian weapons fired from Russian planes from September 30 until October 31 killed at least 185 civilians, including 46 women and 48 children, the monitor said.
During the same period, Russian air strikes also killed at least 279 fighters, the monitor added.
Refugees despair
More than 250,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war. Eleven million have been uprooted from their homes.
Europe and Syria's neighbours, meanwhile, are struggling to cope with the influx of refugees trying to escape war.
Al Jazeera's Jamjoom said that refugees from Syria and Iraq, whom he had spent time with over the past two weeks in Greece, were concerned that attacks in Europe would further harm their plight.
"They are the ones left out in the cold right now," he said.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
14/11/15
--
-
Related:
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Wien bestätigt: Über Zukunft Syriens soll dessen Volk entscheiden – Lawrow...
ReplyDeleteDie Teilnehmer der multilateralen Syrien-Verhandlungen in Wien sind laut Russlands Außenminister Sergej Lawrow übereingekommen, dass über das Schicksal Syriens dessen Volk selbst entscheiden soll. „Das betrifft auch die Zukunft von Präsident Baschar al-Assad“, sagte Lawrow am Samstag nach Abschluss der Gespräche in der österreichischen Hauptstadt.
Das betreffe auch das Schicksal eines beliebigen anderen Politikers in diesem Land, fügte der russische Chefdiplomat hinzu.
An dem Syrien-Treffen in Wien hatten am Samstag Vertreter Russlands, der USA, der UN, Frankreichs, Großbritanniens, Deutschlands, Saudi-Arabiens, der Türkei, des Irans und einiger anderer regionaler Akteure teilgenommen. Zugegen waren auch Vertreter der EU, der Arabischen Liga und der Islamischen Kooperationsorganisation.
http://sptnkne.ws/adBr
Exteriores alemán dice que elecciones en Siria se deben celebrar en 18 meses...
ReplyDeleteLas elecciones en Siria se deben celebrar en los próximos 18 meses, declaró el ministro de Exteriores de Alemania, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, tras las negociaciones en Viena.
"El plan que acordamos hoy prevé elecciones en Siria en los próximos 18 meses", anunció.
Steinmeier aseguró que los bandos en conflicto en Siria parecen menos encarnizados que antes.
"Nuestro objetivo consiste en conservar esta tendencia y no permitir que todo vuelva al estancamiento y el silencio", señaló.
Agregó que "nadie tienen ningún ilusión sobre la dificultad de la tarea que nos espera”.
Asimismo indicó que el Gobierno de transición en Siria debe elaborar un plan para aprobar dentro de seis meses una nueva Constitución........http://sptnkne.ws/adAQ
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday that his country would continue to support Syrian rebels if President Bashar al-Assad could not be removed through a political process...
ReplyDelete"We will support the Syrian people," Adel al-Jubeir told journalists on the sidelines of international Syria peace talks in Vienna.
"We will support the political process that will result in (Assad) leaving, or we will continue to support the Syrian opposition in order to remove him by force.
jpost.com by Reuters
14/11/15