WORLD_ SYRIA_ Syria Peace Talks Set to End with Little Progress

Syria Peace Talks Set to End with Little Progress

VOA News
January 31, 2014


The first round of peace talks involving Syria's government and opposition is set to wrap up Friday after making very little progress on key issues.

An agreement to meet again - likely in one week - is expected to be the only outcome of the seventh and final day of negotiations in Geneva.

U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he hopes for more substantial talks at the next round, noting this is "only the beginning of the process."

The two sides have bickered over even what topics are up for discussion at the long-awaited talks.

The government wanted to start by addressing terrorism. On Thursday, it presented a resolution calling for an end to the funding of "terrorist acts."

The opposition rejected the communique as "one-sided," and said it is useless to discuss it without first forming a transitional government.

In response, the Damascus delegation suggested opposition delegates rejected the terrorism communique because they themselves are terrorists.

There has also been little progress on bringing aid to the hardest-hit areas of Syria's civil war, an issue where many thought common ground could be found.

Brahimi said he was "very, very disappointed," the U.N. has not been able to deliver aid to the besieged, rebel-held city of Homs, where many are said to be starving.

Stephen Zunes, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of San Francisco, told VOA that making even limited progress on Syria's humanitarian crisis is a useful starting point.

"Even on this issue, there's going to be a lot of posturing on both sides. But this is one area where we can conceivably get some mode of cooperation between the rebels and the government and that could possibly help establish a level of trust that could eventually get to more substantive issues," said Zunes.

Although it is considered a success that the two sides have agreed to meet at all, Zunes said there no expectations of a real breakthrough in the near future.

"Basically, it's a lose-lose situation. Neither side can win a military victory. More people are going to die. And that really is really not in the interest of either side," said Zune.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 as peaceful protests against the government before spiraling into a civil war that the U.N. says has killed well over 100,000 people and forced nearly 9 million from their homes.



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