Syria Official Says Peace Talks Possible in November
International peace talks on Syria could be held next month, a top Syrian official said Thursday, although Russia quickly stressed that it was up to the United Nations to announce a firm date.
Asked at a press conference in Moscow if the talks have been pushed back to late November or early December, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said they could take place "November 23-24".
"We are closer than ever to holding the Geneva 2," Jamil told reporters after talks at the Russian Foreign Ministry, but added that the timeframe for the conference was "hypothetical."
The conference, dubbed Geneva 2, was first mooted by the United States and Russia in May but has been repeatedly put off.
Asked about Jamil's comments, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich noted that it was not up to the Syrian regime to name a date for the talks.
"I can neither confirm nor deny the dates mentioned by Mr. Qadri Jamil," Lukashevich told reporters.
"This is a matter for the U.N. Secretary General (Ban Ki-moon), under whose auspices this forum will be held. We will wait for his ... official announcement of these dates."
Russia and Western nations led by the United States have been pushing the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad to meet to try to hammer out a negotiated solution to the two-and-half year-old conflict, which has killed more than 115,000 people.
Jamil said there was "no alternative" to the peace conference, noting that "no aspect of the Syrian crisis can be solved without it."
He added in remarks translated from Arabic into Russian that the proposed talks had to put an end to "foreign interference" in the conflict.
"This will lead to the launch of a political process and cessation of violence."
However, George Sabra, the head of the Syrian National Council, the largest member of the opposition National Coalition, said at the weekend his group would not attend the talks.
Jamil said the group's stance would not affect the plans for the conference.
"The refusal of the Syrian National Coalition to participate in the Geneva 2 will not influence the conference's timeframe and format," he was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency.
"They are likely to reconsider."
Source: Agence France Presse
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