GENEVA: The Syrian regime’s delegation returned to Geneva on Sunday for the resumption of talks with UN mediator Staffan de Mistura after more than a week’s absence, but Western diplomats voiced skepticism about its willingness to engage.
“The opposition has been extremely constructive and willing to get down to it,” a senior Western diplomat said.
“They are in a difficult place while being criticized internally and pressured by the fact that the regime is bombing away in eastern Ghouta and other places.”
Bashar Jafaari, Syria’s ambassador to the UN and chief negotiator, landed in a snowstorm on a flight from Beirut on Sunday, a Reuters reporter on board said.
Jafaari declined to comment but the diplomat said that the regime’s failure to return as scheduled on Dec. 5 had been “a clear sign of not being interested in engaging in the political process.”
De Mistura convened an eighth round of separate talks with the regime and unified opposition delegations on Nov. 28, focusing on constitutional reform as well as elections. But Jafaari arrived a day late and left after two days.
Idlib clashes
Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh had seized territory in Idlib province after clashes with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a force dominated by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, nearly four years after being expelled from the region.
The Observatory said said Daesh had captured the village of Bashkun after clashes with the rival terror group.
The capture comes after days of fighting between Daesh and HTS in neighboring Hama province, during which Daesh captured a string of villages in the northeast of the region, the Observatory said.
