Damascus – The Syrian government delegation to the UN-sponsored peace talks will travel to Geneva on Wednesday, sources close to the delegation said.
“The Syrian Foreign Ministry told the official Syrian delegation and the press delegation to get ready to travel on Wednesday to participate in the Geneva talks after reaching an agreement with the UN Syria envoy Staffan de-Mistura,” the sources said.
The sources, who requested anonymity as they do not have permission to speak to the journalists, said the delegation would only participate in talks on Friday, although this round of negotiations is due to start later Tuesday.
The sources stressed that “regional and international contacts took place during the past hours persuading the Syrian government to send its delegation and participate in the conference, which may have a direct meeting with the delegation of the Syrian opposition.”
In spite the belated arrival of the government envoys, diplomatic talks in Geneva are to start in Geneva on Tuesday afternoon between UN mediators and Syrian opposition delegates, according to an opposition spokesman.
Government and opposition delegates have never negotiated face-to-face, but only through UN intermediaries.
Also on Tuesday, de-Mistura was scheduled to meet representatives of the five permanent UN Security Council members in Geneva.
Also, the UN Security Council on Monday urged all Syrian parties to actively participate in the Geneva political process without preconditions and to support efforts to ensure its success.
Sebastiano Cardi, President of the Security Council, said after closed-door consultations on Syria that the council reiterated that a political solution must be forged through the Geneva process.
The council members also stressed respect for Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity, Cardi said.
Although the Syrian opposition has formed a unified group for Geneva talks following negotiations among them in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“The meeting will start on Tuesday and we really hope that all parties, including the Syrian government, will be present,’’ Cardi said.
The previous seven rounds of Geneva peace talks ended with limited results, because the opposition groups failed to reach a consensus on who are eligible to attend the meeting and whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be removed from power.
De-Mistura said the “moment of truth’’ has arrived for the Syria talks.
Several diplomats at the UN also expressed their hope that the Geneva talks will be able to produce positive outcome given the fact that the Syrian opposition had formed a unified negotiating committee.
French Ambassador to the UN, Francois Delattre, saw a better chance for the Geneva talks as the Syrian opposition had reached a deal at the auspices of Saudi Arabia.
“We very much welcome the great progress achieved in Riyadh by the Syrian opposition to establish a unified, credible and pragmatic group that will be able to negotiate in Geneva,” Delattre said.
The Syrian armed conflict broke out in 2011 and quickly turned into a full-scale war.
UN figures show that the wat has killed more than 330,000 people and displaced millions.