Geneva Peace Talks Close Without Breakthrough
The seventh round of Geneva peace talks closed on Friday without having seriously addressed the prospect of a political transition in Syria, Al Jazeera reported.
United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said Friday that the Syrian government avoided discussions on a political transition in Syria, insisting instead on talks about the fight against terrorism – a topic added to the formal agenda earlier this year.
“I felt that there was an expectation for the U.N. to indicate where we are in the fight against terrorism, which is becoming the main issue being discussed at the highest possible level elsewhere,” de Mistura said during a news conference.
Meanwhile, the main opposition delegation decried the absence of any real attempt to address a political transition during these talks.
“The political process is in danger because, after all these rounds, the international committee doesn’t put enough pressure on the regime and its allies to engage in this negotiation,” Nasser al-Hariri, the lead opposition negotiator, told Al Jazeera.
Russia’s ambassador in Geneva, however, said Saturday that peace talks were making progress because demands for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad have receded, Reuters reported.
Alexei Borodavkin told reporters that the seventh round of talks had produced positive results, especially a “correction” in the approach of the main opposition delegation.
“The essence of this correction is that during this round the opposition never once demanded the immediate resignation of President Bashar al-Assad and the legitimate Syrian government,” he said.
The next round of talks is scheduled for September.
Hezbollah Plans Syria Border Offensive
Reinforcements for the Lebanese Hezbollah have been transferred within Syria to areas along the border with Lebanon ahead of a new offensive against Syrian rebel groups in the area, the Daily Star reported Friday.
Hundreds of elite Hezbollah fighters have been rushed to the Syrian side of the frontier in anticipation of an imminent offensive against insurgent rebel groups entrenched in the mountains around the Lebanese border town of Arsal.
Among the groups operating in the region is the Free Syrian Army faction Saraya Ahl al-Sham, which consists of around 800 rebels. Members of the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) also operate in the area with around 400 and 250 militants respectively.
Last month, the Lebanese army claimed that five suicide bombers attacked Lebanese soldiers as they raided two Syrian refugee camps near Arsal and a sixth militant threw a hand grenade at a patrol.
There has frequent fighting between the army and militants dug into the hills around Arsal in a large pocket of territory straddling the border.
Militants affiliated with al-Qaida and ISIS overran Arsal in 2014, capturing more than 30 internal security forces and army servicemen. Most of those taken have since been released, but several were reportedly killed by the extremists.
Russian Embassy Hit in Damascus
The Russian embassy in Damascus was hit by two shells on Sunday without any reports of casualties or injuries, the Associated Press reported, citing Syrian state media.
SANA said two shells were fired at the Russian embassy, one hitting the compound while the other fell nearby. Shells were also dropped on other parts of the capital Sunday, wounding seven people.
Syrian rebels in the suburbs of the capital have previously struck the Russian embassy.
The attack on the capital came hours after a bomb exploded near a hospital in the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib, wounding five people.
Recommended Reads
- Chatham House: The Changing Borders and Borderlands of Syria in a Time of Conflict
- The New York Times: For Syrian Actors, a Maddening Road to America
- The Associated Press: U.S.-Syrian Woman Sets up Model School in Al-Qaida-Run Region
- Al Jazeera: Turkey’s Syrian Refugees Carve out Their Own Opportunities
- Al Jazeera: Jobar: ‘Death Is a Central Part of Their Daily Lives’