Syria troops advance near Aleppo, amid frail UN peace bid

The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), here since late Saturday, had been reluctant about committing to a hoped-for six months of “proximity talks”, using go-betweens to negotiate with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Russian regime will create a new Hitler”.

Geneva //The UN special envoy for Syria said yesterday that talks on ending the civil war have now officially started, following his first formal meeting with the main opposition umbrella group in Geneva.

Also in Geneva, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson and U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Michael Ratney met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gatilov to discuss ways to support the negotiations.

Outside powers were also in Geneva keeping a close eye on proceedings, with the Syrian government’s chief negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari reportedly meeting with the Russian ambassador, and Western envoys touching base with the opposition on Sunday.

The Syrian government on February 1 approved a United Nations request for new aid deliveries to three besieged towns where hundreds of civilians are facing starvation: Madaya, which is held by rebels, and Foua and Kfarya, which are held by the government.

The meeting coincided with a sharp spike in violence on the ground in Syria, particularly in the rebel-held besieged town of Moadamiyeh southwest of Damascus, where opposition activists reported dozens of helicopter-dropped barrel bombs in the past few days.

Government troops and allied fighters captured hilly countryside near Aleppo on Monday, putting a key supply route used by opposition forces into firing range, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Complicating the efforts, opposition mistrust of de Mistura is running deep: “The fact is the opposition have a lot of distrust in de Mistura”.

The U.N. envoy stressed the need to show some improvement on the ground in Syria as the negotiations proceeded.

For several days it was unclear whether the opposition would participate in the talks at all.

The talks are part of the biggest push to date to chart a way out of the tangled Syrian war that has killed more than 260,000 people and forced millions from their homes since March 2011. Of particular importance for the HNC is a set of preconditions which includes the lifting of sieges, stopping the shelling and releasing detainees.De Mistura reminded that last year’s Vienna meetings had called for discussions regarding the implementation of a ceasefire to take place in parallel with the start of talks though discussions had to take place at the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) level.

The Kurdish PYD party which controls large areas of northern Syria has been excluded in line with the wishes of Turkey, which considers it a terrorist group.

“We came to find a solution”, Alloush said after arriving, adding however: “There is no common ground with the regime”.

In addition to securing a cease-fire, the talks, which could last for months, are aimed at forming a transitional government and eventually organizing U.N.-backed elections.

Opposition delegate Farrah Atassi said government forces were escalating their military campaign, making it hard to justify the opposition’s presence in Geneva.