Beirut – The mainstream Syrian opposition has asked the UN to halt peace talks scheduled to hold in Geneva on Monday, a report said.
According to the report, the rebel groups launched a new offensive attack against government forces, accusing the world body of bias in favour of President Bashar al-Assad.
The opposition’s coordinator at the Geneva talks, Riad Hijab, said earlier that it was unacceptable for talks to go on if the government and its allies pushed on with sieges and bombing civilian areas.
He lamented the recent criticism of government offensives elsewhere.
He said that only three delegates met with the UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, for talks on Monday.
“I met with only three people instead of the usual 15, after a letter signed by unspecified armed revolutionary factions,’’ de Misura said.
“We asked for the postponement of talks, only a postponement until the conditions are right for a resumption of negotiations,” a member of the negotiating team, Mohammad al Aboud, said.
“Another member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) confirmed the decision but asked to remain anonymous,’’ the report said.
It said that both sides had accused one another of breaking a Feb. 27 partial truce deal, which did not include Islamic State or al Qaeda’s Nusra Front and which began to unravel as fighting escalated near Syria’s second city, Aleppo, this month.
The cessation of hostilities was meant to provide a breathing space for talks to end the conflict via a political transition for Syria but a second round that began last week has made little headway.
On Monday, rebels launched a fierce attack against government forces in Latakia province, which lies on the Mediterranean coast, and made separate advances further east in Hama.
There were heavy government air strikes in Homs province to the south. (Reuters/NAN)