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             Trio of Meetings Focus on Finding End to Syrian Crisis

   by VOA News

   The European Union, a group of top diplomats from the United States,
   Russia and France, and the main Syrian opposition coalition are working
   separately Monday on three initiatives aimed at ending more than two
   years of fighting in Syria.
   EU foreign ministers are gathering in Brussels to decide the future of
   the 27-nation bloc's arms embargo on Syria, which expires Friday.
   Britain and France have been pushing for an amendment that would allow
   sending weapons to the Syrian opposition.
   British Foreign Secretary William Hague stressed last week if the EU
   chooses to lift the embargo, any decision to actually send arms to the
   rebels would come at a later date.
   Later Monday in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with
   his Russian and French counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Laurent Fabius,
   in the latest talks to push forward a proposed Syrian peace conference.
   The U.S. and Russia have been trying to arrange the talks for next
   month, envisioned them as a forum for the Syrian government and
   opposition to negotiate terms for an interim government to end the
   civil war.
   Syria says it has agreed "in principle" to attend the proposed
   conference, calling it a "good opportunity to resolve the Syrian
   crisis."
   The opposition has not yet said whether it will take part.
   The Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group, has been
   meeting in Istanbul, Turkey to weigh that decision and discuss the
   makeup of the group.
   Early Monday, the group agreed to expand its membership, adding a bloc
   headed by Saudi-backed, veteran dissident Michel Kilo.
   Members had said the Qatar-backed Muslim Brotherhood faction of the
   coalition was resisting an expansion that would grant Saudi Arabia a
   bigger role in the group.  Kilo's bloc had been seeking up to 22 new
   seats in the coalition, but ended up with five.
   Qatar has exerted a greater influence over the Syrian opposition
   coalition to date, by acting as a chief contributor of money and
   weapons to rebels fighting a two-year rebellion against Syrian
   President Bashar al-Assad.
   The conflict has killed more than 80,000 people since it began as
   peaceful protests against Mr. Assad in March 2011.
   Syrian government forces have been fighting to recapture the strategic
   rebel town of Qusair in recent days in an apparent bid to strengthen
   Mr. Assad's position ahead of peace talks.
   An amateur video posted to the Internet Sunday showed a purported
   Syrian government air strike on Qusair. The Britain-based Syrian
   Observatory for Human Rights said fighting in Qusair killed at least 27
   rebels and three civilians on Saturday.
   Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militants have unleashed
   heavy artillery and tank fire on the Sunni Muslim town near the
   Lebanese border. Qusair's capture would mark a significant victory for
   Mr. Assad because it is located along a highway linking Damascus to the
   Mediterranean coast, a stronghold of his minority Alawite sect.
   Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/syria/1668877.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/syria/1668877.html