The opposing sides had previously been negotiating through go-betweens. But UN spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci said Saturday they were now meeting directly.
Brahimi, an Algerian diplomat, is a veteran UN negotiator and troubleshooter.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the three-year-old conflict in Syria, and more than two million Syrians have become refugees in the neighboring countries including Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, according to the UN
aa.com.tr
25/1/14
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Geneva-2: First round of direct Syria talks concludes...
ReplyDeleteThe first round of talks between the Syrian government and the opposition conclude. In a 40-minute closed door session, Damascus and the opposition discussed preparations and framework for the negotiations, set to last for an initial period of one week.
Syria's warring sides met briefly together in the same room on Saturday for the first time since peace talks started in Geneva, the UN said.
UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi's spokeswoman confirmed Saturday morning that he and the two sides were meeting in the same room.
The meeting, during which Brahimi spoke while the two delegations had listened, wrapped up in under half an hour, a source inside the room told AFP.
The delegations had been due to sit down early Friday at UN headquarters in Geneva for their first direct talks, but Brahimi was unable to get them into the same room after the opposition insisted the regime must be prepared to discuss Assad leaving power...........http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_25/Geneva-2-First-round-of-direct-Syria-talks-concludes-7984/
25/1/14
Gespräche zwischen verfeindeten syrischen Parteien werden am Montag fortgesetzt (Zusammenfassung 17.50)....
ReplyDeleteDirekte Verhandlungen zwischen den Delegationen der syrischen Regierung und der Opposition werden nach Angaben eines Oppositionspolitikers am Montag in Genf fortgesetzt.
„Auf der Tagesordnung stehen humanitäre Probleme und die mit der Bildung eines kommissarischen Machtorgans zusammenhängende Frage. Diese beiden Aspekte sind extrem wichtig für uns“, sagte Monzer Akbik am Samstag in Genf nach Beendigung einer kurzen Runde direkter Gespräche unter Vermittlung des Syrien-Sondergesandten der UN und der Arabischen Liga, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Die Verhandlungspartner hätten einander die Hand nicht gereicht, sondern sich nur an einen gemeinsamen Tisch gesetzt. Eine kurze zweite Samstag-Runde beginne 16.00 Uhr MEZ. „Wir haben einen Koordinator – Herrn Brahimi. Jede Delegation spricht nur mit ihm, er vermittelt“, sagte Akbik.
Die erste Runde direkter Verhandlungen hatte vor einigen Stunden begonnen. Nach einer etwa 15-minütigen Ansprache Brahimis wurde eine Pause eingelegt. Bei den Gesprächen will Brahimi unter anderem das Problem der Schaffung humanitärer Korridore sowie der Feuereinstellung anschneiden.
http://de.ria.ru/politics/20140125/267709702.html
25/1/14
Russia Backs Idea of Anti-Islamist Alliance in Syria – Lavrov...
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) – Official Moscow supports a proposed alliance between the Syrian regime and moderate opposition against the Islamists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Prominent Syrian Islamist groups such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant “have no place in negotiations,” Lavrov said on NTV television.
“Our goal is to facilitate some political agreement between the [Syrian] government and sane, secular, patriotic opposition and parallel to political reconciliation to help them unite to fight these terrorists,” Lavrov said in the interview, broadcasted Sunday.
Syrian opposition and the government of President Bashar Assad are currently locked in high-tension talks at the Geneva-2 conference in the Swiss city of Montreux.
Assad’s government has called for an anti-Islamist alliance shortly after moderates in the opposition clashed with Muslim radicals on the ground earlier this month, leaving hundreds dead.
The majority of radical Islamist groups in Syria have rejected Geneva-2 and threatened violence against participants............http://en.ria.ru/world/20140126/186933027/Russia-Backs-Idea-of-Anti-Islamist-Alliance-in-Syria--Lavrov.html
26/1/14
Aid convoys will reach Homs Monday, women and children may leave district - Brahimi
ReplyDeleteThe first convoy to reach the northern city of Homs is expected to reach the besieged city as early as Monday after the Syrian government agreed to allow access to the city, UN Special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, announced.
Brahimi said that official Damascus has agreed to allow hundreds of tons of medical and food aid into Homs. The UN envoy also hoped that both sides of the conflict would be able to make " a general statement about the way forward" at the upcoming political talks on Monday.
It has also been reported that the Syrian government delegation at peace talks in Geneva had announced the authorities would allow women and children to leave the besieged old district of Homs city straight away.
"What we have been told by the government side is that women and children in the besieged area of the old city are welcome to leave immmediately," Brahimi told a news conference after talks with governent and opposition delegations.
The veteran diplomat said the opposition delegation, which has been calling on the government to release tens of thousands of detainees, had agreed to a government request to provide a list of detainees held by armed rebel groups.
Brahimi also said he would meet the two sides jointly on Monday, when they are expected to discuss opposition demands for the creation of a transitional executive body.
Voice of Russia, RIA, Reuters
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_26/Humanitarian-aid-convoys-to-reach-Homs-Monday-Brahimi-1341/
26/1/14
Women, children allowed to leave besieged Syria city ...
ReplyDeleteWomen and children trapped in a besieged Syrian city will be permitted to leave “immediately” under a deal that marked the first tangible sign of progress in peace talks.
“What we have been told by the [Syria] government side is that women and children in the besieged area of the [Homs] old city are welcome to leave immediately,” Agence France-Presse quoted U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi as telling a news conference after talks with government and opposition delegations.
“Hopefully starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City in Homs,” Brahimi said.
The subject of Homs -- where hundreds of families in the Old City are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies -- has been discussed at length since the two parties started face-to-face talks on Saturday.
“You know that the center of the city has been under siege for a very, very long time and now I hope that we are approaching a solution for at least the civilians.” Brahimi added.
The veteran diplomat said the opposition delegation, which has been calling on the government to release tens of thousands of detainees, had agreed to a government request to provide a list of detainees held by armed rebel groups.
Brahimi also said he would meet the two sides jointly on Monday, when they are expected to discuss opposition demands for the creation of a transitional governing body.
The mediator said he was pleased with the general tone of peace talks.
“I am happy, because in general there is mutual respect and they are aware of the fact that this attempt is important and we must continue. I hope that this mood will continue.”............http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/26/Women-children-allowed-to-leave-besieged-Syria-city-.html
26/1/14
Genève II: blocage dans les discussions politiques...
ReplyDeleteLes émissaires de Bachar al-Assad et de l'opposition, réunis à Genève pour des négociations de paix, sont arrivés lundi à un blocage en tentant de discuter de la question explosive du transfert de pouvoir, ont indiqué des sources des deux délégations.
"Les discussions n'ont pas été constructives aujourd'hui en raison de l'attitude du régime qui a voulu dévier des discussions qui devaient porter sur l'application de Genève I", le texte rédigé en juin 2012 par les grandes puissances, a déclaré Rima Fleyhane, membre de la délégation de l'opposition. Une source proche de la délégation du régime a indiqué à l'AFP que "l'opposition avait rejeté la feuille de travail (présentée par Damas) et avait demandé qu'on parle uniquement de l'organe gouvernemental de transition". Le médiateur de l'ONU, Lakhdar Brahimi, a alors levé la séance, selon cette source.
Belga
http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_geneve-ii-blocage-dans-les-discussions-politiques?id=8185938
27/1/14
Syria Peace Talks Stall Over Political Transition...
ReplyDeleteSyrian peace talks in Geneva were reported to be deadlocked Monday shortly after delegates began talks that were supposed to focus on creating a transitional government.
Opposition delegates rejected the Syrian government's declaration of principles, which they said was outside the framework of the Geneva talks and did not mention a transfer of power in Damascus.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said government negotiators were at the talks to discuss terrorism, not a transfer of power. Sources at the talks said mediator Lakhdar Brahimi then broke up the meeting.
The opposition maintains Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave power and a transitional government be formed based on an agreement reached during a first peace conference in Geneva in 2012. But the Syrian government says Assad's role is not up for debate at this conference.
Also Monday, the United States demanded Syria's government immediately allow aid convoys into the city of Homs and permit all civilians to leave besieged areas freely.
The U.S. State Department said the evacuation of women and children from rebel-held Homs as proposed by the Syrian government at the peace talks is "not sufficient" and not an alternative to badly-needed aid.
Homs occupies a strategic location in the center of the country and has been a key battleground.
Assad's forces retook many of the surrounding areas last year, leaving rebels under siege in the city, along with thousands of civilians................http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-peace-talks-stalled-over-political-transition/1838334.html
27/1/14
Brahimi expects no results from first round of Syria talks, but ice broken...
ReplyDeleteGENEVA, January 29, (ITAR-TASS). The Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he had expected no results from the first round of Syria talks.
He spoke of “quite large” gaps in the positions of the sides and said he did not “expect that we will achieve anything substantive.”
“I am very happy that we are still talking, but the ice is breaking slowly, but it is breaking," Brahimi said at a news conference after meeting Wednesday’s between the government and opposition negotiators, who had started discussing a transitional governing body for Syria.
He said the sides would continue the talks in Geneva until January 31 and then would resume them most likely a week later.
Brahimi expressed confidence that Russia and the United States would exert more influence on both sides.
Russian and American experts agreed at their meeting in Geneva January 29 to put pressure on the Syrian sides to prod them into reaching a compromise, an informed diplomatic source told ITAR-TASS.
“The participants agreed to put pressure on the Syrian sides to make them move towards a compromise,” the source said. “Discussed were political and humanitarian issues as well as questions concerning the second round of inter-Syrian talks to begin after January 31.”
“When the Syrian delegations go to the consultations, they should have a homework assignment so that eventually they could achieve an agreement. A possible agenda of the second round was discussed at the meeting of the experts,” the source said.
An official in the Russian delegation told ITAR-TASS earlier that the meeting was aimed at holding “a detailed discussion on how to resolve the crisis in Syria.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed Syria in a telephone conversation on Wednesday, January 29...................http://en.itar-tass.com/world/716831
29/1/14
Syria peace talks end first round in deadlock..........
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - A first round of peace talks on Syria wraps up Friday with both sides in entrenched positions and the U.N. mediator expressing frustration that he had not even produced agreement for an aid convoy to rescue trapped civilians in a besieged city.
After a week of talks at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the opposing sides in Syria's civil war were still stuck on the question of how to proceed. Friday's closing session was expected to be largely ceremonial, with government and opposition delegates expected to meet again around February 10.
"I hope that in the next session, when we come back, we will be able to have a more structured discussion," mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said...............http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/31/us-syria-crisis-talks-idUSBREA0T0W420140131?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
31/1/14
Négociations de Genève: le régime syrien ne fera "aucune concession"...
ReplyDeleteLe régime syrien ne fera "aucune concession" dans les négociations qui se déroulent à Genève avec l'opposition sous l'égide de l'ONU, a prévenu vendredi le ministre syrien de l'Information, Omrane al-Zohbi, au dernier jour du premier round de pourparlers.
"Dans les prochains jours, il y aura un nouveau round en principe, mais ni dans ce round, ni dans le prochain, ils (les adversaires du régime) ne pourront obtenir de la délégation syrienne aucune concession", a lancé le ministre qui s'adressait à des manifestants pro-régime rassemblés devant le siège de l'ONU à Genève.
"Israël n'a pu obtenir aucune concession (du régime) pendant un demi-siècle, le terrorisme n'a pu obtenir aucune concession au cours des trois dernières années, la Turquie, le Qatar, l'Arabie Saoudite, la Jordanie et les comploteurs au Liban n'ont pu obtenir aucune concession par la force", a ajouté le ministre.
"Ils n'obtiendront pas par la politique ce qu'ils n'ont pu obtenir par la force", a-t-il martelé sous les applaudissements de la foule.
Le ministre syrien faisait référence aux pays et parties appuyant la rébellion armée qui tente depuis près de trois ans de renverser le régime de Bachar al-Assad.
Il fait partie de la délégation gouvernementale qui quittera vendredi Genève après une semaine de pourparlers avec la Coalition de l'opposition, par le truchement du médiateur des Nations unies Lakhdar Brahimi.
Lakhdar Brahimi a répété à plusieurs reprises qu'il n'y avait pas eu de réelle percée dans les discussions entre les deux camps, qualifiant vendredi la conférence de Genève II de "début très modeste, mais c'est un début"..................http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_negociations-de-geneve-le-regime-syrien-ne-fera-aucune-concession?id=8189544
31/1/14
Syrian FM attacks US meddling, opposition threats in peace talks ...
ReplyDeleteGENEVA- A first round of talks to end the war in Syria have had no tangible results because of the immaturity of the opposition delegation and their "threats to implode" the talks, as well as blatant US interference, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Friday.
Moualem said there was no pressure on his delegation from Russia, a key ally, but there was coordination between Damascus and Moscow.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Syrian-FM-attacks-US-meddling-opposition-threats-in-peace-talks-340007
31/1/14
Syrie: fin des négociations, le médiateur s'excuse auprès du peuple...
ReplyDeleteLe médiateur de l'ONU, Lakhdar Brahimi, a mis fin samedi aux discussions entre l'opposition et le gouvernement syriens qui étaient dans l'impasse depuis trois semaines à Genève et n'a fixé aucune date pour une reprise.
"Je pense qu'il est préférable que chaque partie rentre et réfléchisse à ses responsabilités, et (dise) si elle veut que ce processus continue ou non", a déclaré M. Brahimi à la presse. Il était prévu que ce deuxième cycle de discussions, commencé lundi dernier, s'achève samedi mais le médiateur en accord avec les deux délégations devait fixer une date pour une nouvelle réunion............http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_syrie-brahimi-annonce-la-fin-des-negociations-s-excuse-aupres-du-peuple?id=8201520
15/2/14