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               Syrian Opposition Heads to Geneva for Peace Talks

   by VOA News

   A delegation representing Syria's main opposition group is due to
   arrive in Geneva Saturday.

   It is not clear whether members of the Saudi-backed Higher Negotiation
   Committee might decide to participate directly in peace talks designed
   to end the war in Syria.

   U.N. officials went ahead with the start of talks in the Swiss city
   Friday, despite an HNC boycott.

   The talks began with a meeting at the U.N. offices between U.N. Special
   Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura and a Syrian government delegation
   headed by Syrian Ambassador to the U.N. Bashar Ja'afari.

   After the meeting, de Mistura said he hoped to meet with HNC delegates
   on Sunday.

   "I have good reasons to believe that they are actually considering this
   very seriously, and therefore to be in a position on, probably, Sunday,
   to actually start the discussion with them, in order to be able to
   proceed with the intra-Syrian talks," De Mistura said.

   The HNC had said it would not join the negotiations after its demands
   were not met for an end to air strikes on civilians by the Syrian
   government and Russia, and a lifting of the sieges in areas they
   control.

   On Friday, the group said it decided to send a delegation after
   receiving "assurances." A spokesperson gave no details of what those
   assurances were.

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, "The United
   States welcomes the important decision by the High Negotiations
   Committee of the Syrian opposition to attend negotiations."

   The talks are the first attempt at peace since negotiations collapsed
   in 2014.

   Difficult peace process

   The civil war in Syria has dragged on for nearly five years, killed a
   quarter of a million people and displaced millions more. The conflict
   has also seen the birth of the Islamic State militant group and
   triggered a massive wave of refugees to western Europe.

   The battles in Syria have intensified since September when Russia began
   air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad, countering the
   efforts of opposition groups supported by the United States, some
   members of the European Union, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

   The complicated backdrop makes the peace process especially difficult.

   With Russian support, Assad's forces have made significant gains.
   Analysts say the government has little incentive to negotiate with an
   opposition that is weak and fractured.

   Even with the opposition joining the talks, analysts are pessimistic.
   Nadim Shehadi, Director of Fares Center at Fletcher School of Law and
   Diplomacy in Boston, sees little chance of success.

   "We are pressuring the opposition to prove that they are united,
   coherent, that they have a strong leadership and that they have a
   vision, and a policy and a certain consensus on what the future will be
   and I don't think they do, I don't think they will in the near future,
   and I don't think they can," he said. The talks had been set to begin
   on January 25 but discussions on who should represent the opposition
   delayed them to Friday.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-opposition-heads-to-geneva-for
   -peace-talks/3169509.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-opposition-heads-to-geneva-for-peace-talks/3169509.html