Syrian Opposition Due Late Saturday for Geneva Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A delegation from Syria's main opposition umbrella group will arrive Saturday evening in Switzerland to join peace talks, a spokesman said.
Monzer Makhous said the delegation from the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) was preparing to leave Riyadh and would be joined later in Geneva by HNC head Riad Hijab, AFP reported.
He said the HNC may meet with the United Nations Sunday.
A source close to the HNC said that the group was sending 17 negotiators and 25 others to the UN-mediated negotiations.
Late Friday the HNC agreed to attend the talks.
A 16-member delegation representing President Bashar Assad arrived in Geneva Friday and held preliminary talks with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura.
For now, no face-to-face talks between the opposition and the government are expected. Instead "proximity talks" are envisioned whereby go-betweens shuttle between the participants.
The Vienna Process foresees elections within 18 months but leaves open the thorny question of Assad's future role. Talks were originally meant to start on January 1.
Meeting in Saudi Arabia over four days, the HNC had demanded an end to bombardments, as well as an agreement on humanitarian aid to ease suffering in besieged towns, before agreeing to take part.
The group had also asked for "clarifications" after the UN invited other opposition figures who are thought to have closer ties to Moscow and limited influence on the ground.
The HNC and its Saudi and Turkish backers have objected to the participation of Syrian Kurdish groups that have made key advances against Daesh (ISIL) terrorists in recent months.
Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting an assortment of militant groups, including the ISIL terrorists.
Following the start of the Russian air campaign last month, Syria's Armed Forces have launched large-scale operations to retake occupied areas from terrorists.
