Syria peace talks begin in Geneva

The talks, which began last night, are the first since two rounds of negotiations collapsed in 2014.

The conflict has killed more than a quarter of a million people and forced millions of others to flee their homes, resulting in the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

The main Syrian opposition group, known as the Higher Negotiating Committee, or HNC, said it was boycotting the talks until it receives an official response from the United Nations about a list of concerns.

“The HNC will go to Geneva tomorrow to discuss these humanitarian issues which will pave the way into the political process of negotiations”, spokesman Salim al-Muslat told the Arabic news channel al-Arabiya al-Hadath.

Mr de Mistura said he had a “good reason to believe” that the HNC would join the talks on Sunday.

Syrian state TV reported late Friday afternoon that a delegation from President Bashar al-Assad’s government was meeting with the United Nations special envoy for Syria.

“They will start as planned, but I don’t have a time, I don’t have a location, and I can’t tell you anything about the delegations”, Fawzi told Reuters. However, the official noted that there had still been no official confirmation of the opposition attending the talks. Western governments praised the HNC action.

The main Syrian opposition group has said it will join United Nations peace talks that have opened in Geneva.

“The media delegation… might meet with de Mistura, with the Americans, but the programme is not clear yet”, Fuad Aliko said.

The largest Kurdish group in Syria, the Democratic Union Party or PYD, is not invited to the talks. The PYD is the political arm of the militant PKK, which Turkey and the State Department consider terrorists, but is entrenched among Kurdish security forces.

There have been conflicting reports on whether the umbrella opposition group will attend the conference in Geneva.

The task ahead is to achieve a country-wide ceasefire and establish a unity government which will oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections by August 2017.

The plan calls for proximity talks, which means the parties will be in separate rooms, with de Mistura shuttling between them.

On Thursday the Saudi-backed HNC, formed only last month, said it would not take part before an agreement is reached on aid to hundreds of thousands of people stuck in besieged towns.

However, another major force, the Kurds who control much of northeast Syria and have proven one of the few groups capable of winning territory from Islamic State, were excluded from the talks after Turkey demanded they be kept away.

Representatives of the HNC met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair prior to the announcement.

A source close to the HNC said that the group was sending 17 negotiators and 25 others to the UN-mediated negotiations.

Meanwhile, The Netherlands yesterday said it will broaden its role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State to include the bombing of IS targets in Syria. The Dutch have for months been carrying out airstrikes in neighboring Iraq, but have balked at extending the mission to Syria.