Alwaght- Talks between the Syrian government and opposition are set to commence on January 29, the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said.
Speaking in Geneva, he said the negotiations will focus on a broad ceasefire, stopping the ISIS terrorist group and increasing aid.
De Mistura said the process of finalizing the list of participants “is still ongoing,” particularly regarding clarification of the opposition groups which will not be considered “terrorist.”
He added that the UN will start sending invitations on Tuesday. “I’m going to send the invitations given by the mandate of the UN Security Council,” he said.
The peace talks were originally due to start on Monday, but were postponed.
"We want to make sure that when and if we start, to start at least on the right foot. It will be uphill anyway," de Mistura said.
He added that the “proximity talks” between the two sides are expected to last six months. According to the UN official, “this will not be Geneva-3.”
The Geneva II peace conference which took place in 2014 focused on bringing the two sides – the government and opposition – to the negotiation table to agree on forming a transitional government.
De Mistura told reporters that the sides will not talk directly to each other and will be mediated by negotiators.
The Syrian government has said that Damascus's delegation will be headed by the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari.
The disagreement over which opposition groups will take part in the peace talks and who will represent them has been impeding the start of negotiations.
On Wednesday, a Syrian opposition coalition, the so-called ‘High Negotiations Committee,’ named a Takfiri terrorist group ringleader chief as their top negotiator. The decision to appoint Mohammed Alloush, the leader of the so-called Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), a powerful terrorist group operating in the suburbs of Damascus, as one of the negotiators drew criticism, even from among other members of the Syrian opposition.
Last week De Mistura blamed the Saudi regime for complicating his efforts to bring opposition groups to the forthcoming peace talks, the Foreign Policy Magazine reported.
Staffan de Mistura has said Riyadh is complicating his efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict by trying to tightly control which opposition groups will be allowed to participate in the negotiations. De Mistura made the remarks in his January 18 confidential briefing to the U.N. Security Council, which was obtained by Foreign Policy Magazine.
Syria blames Saudi Arabia for being the main supporter of brutal terrorist groups, fighting to topple the legitimate government of President Bashar al-Assad.
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Shiite
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Syria Peace Talks Set for January 29: UN Envoy
