“None of us are surprised that the talks have been hard, and that we are at a difficult moment, but we should all agree that the al-Assad regime’s obstruction has made progress even tougher,” Kerry said.
Kerry urged the regime’s supporters to press for the creation of a transitional government and warned they would bear the responsibility “if the regime continues with its intransigence in the talks and its brutal tactics on the ground.”
The second round of negotiations seeking an end to the brutal three-year-old conflict in Geneva broke off Saturday with no result.
No date was set for a third round of talks and it was unclear whether any would be held, according to AFP.
Kerry said the United States remained committed to the Geneva process and all diplomatic efforts to find a political solution.
“There’s no recess in the suffering of the Syrian people, and the parties and the international community must use the recess in the Geneva talks to determine how best to use this time and its resumption to find a political solution to this horrific civil war,” he said.
A monitoring group said this week more than 5,000 people had been killed since the talks began on Jan. 22.
Meanwhile, the evacuation of civilians from Syria’s Homs city has halted with no new efforts to extend a truce with governor saying “armed groups” prevented operations a day earlier.
“The evacuation of civilians was not carried out yesterday (Saturday) because some of the armed groups prevented the citizens inside from moving to the transit point to leave,” Talal Barazi said in a statement.
“The province will continue its efforts with the United Nations to evacuate all those who wish to leave,” he added.
The United Nations and Syria’s Red Crescent began operations to evacuate trapped civilians and deliver aid inside besieged parts of Homs on Feb. 7.
The work was made possible by a deal that included a ceasefire that was extended twice, but expired on Saturday night with no word of attempts to extend it further.
The U.N. and Red Crescent were able to evacuate some 1,400 of the 3,000 people estimated to be trapped in Homs for more than 18 months by a government siege.
But around 400 men and boys aged 15-55 were detained by authorities for investigation upon leaving.
Earlier on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several besieged neighborhoods of Homs came under regime shelling, and government forces battled rebels in the outskirts of the districts.
Regime forces also shelled the Waer neighborhood, a Homs district under opposition control but not subject to the army siege, where most of the evacuees fled.
More than 140,000 people have died and millions have been driven from their homes since the conflict began.
(With AFP)
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/02/16/Kerry-blames-Assad-regime-obstruction-for-Syria-talks-breakdown-.html
16/2/14
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Geneva Conference and Situation in Syria. -Press Statement, John Kerry, Secretary of State.
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FM: Syria’s government delegation managed to insist on its agenda at Geneva talks...
ReplyDeleteBEIRUT, February 16, 22:09 /ITAR-TASS/. The delegation of the Syrian government has managed to agree a favourable agenda to start a next round of Geneva talks, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallen told Syrian journalists onboard a plane heading from Geneva to Damascus on Sunday.
He said he did not share the opinion about the results of second round of consultations that ended on Saturday voiced by foreign ministers of France and Great Britain who placed responsibility for its failure on official Damascus. “There is nothing new in such a position, since both Paris and London are members of the anti-Syrian plotting,” Muallen noted.
In his words, the information war unleashed by the United States against him was triggered by the fact that the government delegation had managed to insist on its version of the agenda. He said that aggressive threats coming from Washington were “an attempt to exert psychological pressure on the Syrian negotiators.”
He reaffirmed that at the next round of talks in Geneva the government delegation would keep to the agenda topped by the provision of stopping violence and fighting against terrorism. “We hope United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi would continue the negotiating process until results are finally reached,” the Syrian foreign minister stressed.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/719412?utm_medium=rss20
16/2/14
Kerry: Russia Enabling Syria's Pursuit of Military Path...
ReplyDeleteU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the Syrian government is trying to win a military victory over the opposition, and that Russia is enabling President Bashar al-Assad on that path.
Speaking Monday in Jakarta, Kerry said Syria's strategy is evident in its continuing barrel bombing of civilians, and that Russia's deliveries of arms and aid are helping Mr. Assad's pursuit of a military solution over a political end to the civil war.
"It is very clear that Bashar al-Assad is continuing to try to win this in the battlefield rather than to come to the negotiating table in good faith."
VOA correspondent Scott Stearns, who is traveling with Kerry, said the secretary wants the international community to use a break in the talks to figure out how best to pursue a political solution.
"He said the United States still believes that there is no military solution to the war in Syria, but it's his opinion that the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pursuing just that, a military solution, a military solution in the opinion of the United States that's aided by Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. He said Russia needs to stop being part of the problem and play a more active role in being a part of the political solution."
Russia has been both an ally of Mr. Assad and, along with the United States, a lead player in bringing the Syrian sides together for the peace talks.
On Sunday, Kerry said in a statement that all parties involved in the peace talks knew they would be difficult, but that "obstruction" by the Assad government is making the process even harder. He also praised Syrian opposition groups, saying they have presented a "viable and well-reasoned roadmap" for a transitional government in Syria.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem cast blame at the United States, saying it worked to create a negative climate at the negotiations in Geneva...............http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-russia-enabling-syrias-pursuit-of-military-path/1852688.html
17/2/14
U.S.: Assad arrests kin of opposition peace talks team .....
ReplyDeleteThe United States on Wednesday accused the Syrian government of undermining the Geneva peace talks by rounding up and arresting the relatives of opposition delegates, Agence France-Presse reported.
“We call on the regime to immediately and unconditionally release all those unfairly arrested,” AFP quoted State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as saying, expressing Washington’s “outrage.”
She added: “The opposition delegation must be permitted to safely and securely work towards the political transition.”..................http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/02/27/U-S-Assad-arrests-kin-of-opposition-peace-talks-team-.html
27/2/14