London [U.K.]: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Tuesday met a Syrian regime delegation at the first day of a sixth round of peace talks in Geneva.
The discussions at the sixth round of talks mediated by Mistura will focus on a new Constitution, governance, elections and the fight against terrorism.
De Mistura insisted the Geneva political talks had to be seen in tandem and not in conflictwith Astana, and that there was no solution to Syria’s devastating six-year civil war without a political settlement on the horizon, the Guardian reported.
De Mistura said the Syrian Government delegation was ‘here to work’, after Assad said at the weakened that “nothing substantial” would result from the summit which was nothing but “merely a meeting for the media.”
The new round of talks is expected to end on Friday. The Syrian regime delegation is led by Bashar al-Ja’afari while the opposition is led by Nasr al-Hariri from the High negotiations Committee.
“The road to freedom runs through Geneva to negotiate a political solution. And that is why Bashar al-Assad is frightened of this process. He is afraid to engage with the agenda of political transition,” Anadolu quoted Hariri as saying. (ANI)