Future of Peace Talks in Question – Opposition Won’t Negotiate Without Assad Exit Plan. On Sunday the head of the Syrian National Coalition, the U.S.-backed umbrella group for opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, said he won’t take part in peace talks unless there is a clear plan to remove Assad from power.
“We have decided not to enter Geneva talks unless it is with dignity, and unless there is a successful transfer of power with a specific timeframe,” Ahmad Jarba told an Arab League emergency meeting in Cairo, as cited by Reuters. Jarba also ruled out attending talks if Iran is at the table – Iran is Assad’s most important regional ally, pouring financial aid and tactical support behind his regime.
Talks were initially scheduled for Nov. 23, but organizers were waiting on the opposition to declare its willingness to take part. Sunday’s decision throws the future of peace talks into question, Al Jazeera reports. The Assad regime has outwardly rejected negotiating a transition of power – effectively, the end of its own rule. Assad himself has said he’s open to running for re-election next year, which would grant him a third term in power over a divided country.
Regime Retakes Northern Town, FSA’s Akaidi Blames Rebel Infighting and Resigns. The Free Syrian Army suffered the resignation of one of its top officials – the commander of its fighting forces in the northern city of Aleppo. Colonel Abdul Jabbar Akaidi stepped down on Sunday to protest rebel bickering, according to the Washington Post. He blamed the internal discord among rebel fighters for the regime takeover of Safira, a strategic town in Northern Syria; the victory is a boost to Assad’s army, opening a vital supply line and bolstering their efforts to retake rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo.
“People are so scared,” one Aleppo businessman told the Washington Post. “It seems the Free Syrian Army is incapable of defending even themselves, let alone the people.”
Stick Figures and Stunted Growth – Syrians Going Hungry. This weekend the New York Times took an in-depth look at hunger in Syria.
“Millions are going hungry to varying degrees, and there is growing evidence that acute malnutrition is contributing to relatively small but increasing numbers of deaths, especially among small children, the wounded and the sick,” the Times reports, citing experts and aid workers.
Those same experts warned: “If the crisis continues into the winter, deaths from hunger and illness could begin to dwarf deaths from violence, which has already killed well over 100,000 people, and if the deprivation lasts longer, a generation of Syrians risks stunted development.”
The cost of food has skyrocketed by roughly 341%, one analyst in Damascus told Syria Deeply. The shortage is felt most painfully in rebel-held areas; the Assad regime has been accused of deliberately starving people, cutting off food supplies as a form of collective punishment and tactical battlefield advantage.
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The Guardian: Radicalization in Syria Poses Growing Threat to Europe, Says Turkish Leader
New York Times: Turkey and Iran Signal a Softening of Differences Over Syria
Al Monitor: Turkey, Iran Talks Can Begin to Defuse Syrian Tragedy
AP: Elusive al-Qaida Leader in Syria Stays in the Shadows
TIME: Before and After Pictures of Irreplaceable Syrian Monuments Destroyed by War
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