Syrian opposition sharply divided ahead of peace talks

Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, that the talks could be delayed by “a day or two” while invitations went out but that there would not be a “fundamental delay”.

Abdul-Basit Sieda of the Saudi-backed opposition said they reject Russia’s desire to add names to the opposition roster because Moscow is a strong backer of Assad.

Internationally brokered talks between Syria’s government and opposition groups due to start on Jan 25 may be delayed, but major powers must keep up the pressure to bring participants to the table, the United Nations envoy said today.

George Sabra, a senior opposition official, said the obstacles to the talks were still there, reiterating demands for the lifting of blockades on populated areas and the release of detainees, measures set out in a December 18 Security Council resolution that endorsed the peace process.

However, delicate particulars were apparently overlooked in Vienna’s agreement, such as President Bashar al-Assad’s role and the process of reaching a ceasefire in Syria, where hundreds of rebel and jihadi groups are entangled.

The daily said Kerry would now raise the proposal with Saudi officials, who have pushed back against the attendance of other opposition figures at the talks. “There should not be any representation of terrorist groups around the table”, Davutoglu said. “And if he has some other people he wants to talk to and meet with he will”.

But the Russian diplomat said that if the opposition council did not turn up in Geneva, the talks would still go ahead.

The dispute about who will represent the opposition in Geneva is playing out against a backdrop of foreign powers’ deep involvement in the complex, multi-sided Syrian conflict.

Despite the many hurdles, diplomats appear confident that the talks will come off.

Other opposition figures also protested and the pro-regime Al Watan daily called Alloush’s appointment “a provocative step with the sole goal of thwarting any possible dialogue”.

“It is likely the 25th may slip by a few days for practical reasons”, Jessy Chahine, a spokeswoman for de Mistura, told AFP in an e-mail.

Mounzer Khaddam, a member of the Syria-based National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria who is part of the Saudi-named delegation, said in a statement that choosing a chief negotiator from the armed opposition “is a wrong message to the Syrian people that are hoping the talks will be successful”.

Al-Watan, supportive of the Syrian government, said naming Alloush, a relative of the late leader of the Islam Army rebel group, Zahran Alloush, is a “defiant move created to break down negotiations”.

“We don’t want to waste time”, Kerry said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that only three groups are now on the terrorist list: the Islamic State group, al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra and al-Qaida itself.