Syria talks produce election road map

Also Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem stressed that eliminating terrorism is a necessity to preserve global stability and peace and is “a basic introduction for any political solution for the current crisis in Syria”.

At the end of the second round of talks, the United Nations released a joint statement on behalf of the participants, saying Syria should have a transitional government in six months and hold elections in 18 months.

“One of the goals of the Vienna meeting is to see concretely how we can strengthen the global fight against Daesh”, said Fabius, using another term for the Islamic State group as he headed into talks here Saturday.

No representatives of the Syrian opposition are expected to take part in the official discussions, which will focus on determining which rebel groups should be regarded as “terrorists” and which should be involved in negotiations on the transition to a new political settlement following the departure of President Bashar Assad.

“This political process has to be accompanied by a ceasefire”.

“But the situation is such that he has become the magnet for the foreign fighters”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said. The list, managed by the Kingdom of Jordan, may later be expanded to include other groups in Syria, Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov said.

“It is respect for life and for its possibilities that drove our efforts today in Vienna”.

Reporting from Vienna, the Wall Street Journal’s Laurence Norman reports on the talks on how to resolve the Syrian crisis.

More than 250 000 people have been killed in the Syrian war.

During his last visit to Syria, Mistura said his working groups are going to be launched soon.

“These actions are crimes against humanity”, Sinirlioglu said. “People are coming from all over the world attracted to Daesh or al-Nusra or whatever, but mostly Daesh, because of the fight against Assad”.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the bloodbath added “another kind of meaning” to the gathering.

The final communiqué agreed that the Diaspora should be allowed to vote in the elections, a key sticking point in negotiations.

The crux issue of the role of Assad remained unsolved.

Still, Ossi said he didn’t expect much from the Vienna meeting “because terrorist groups and a few regional states” have no interest in launching a political process in Syria as they are still “betting on the issue of toppling the Syrian regime by the military force”.

These allegations are totally untrue, the Minister stressed in a statement, affirming that the Syrian government prohibits by all available means oil theft from the fields and wells in Syria.

“We still still differ on what happens to Bashar al-Assad”, Kerry said. “The Paris attacks have shown, alongside with ISIS claiming responsibility for it, that it doesn’t matter if you are for Assad or against him; ISIS is your enemy, so it’s not about Assad”.