Sunday Times 2
Syria peace talks break off, no new date set: Brahimi
View(s):GENEVA, Feb 15 (AFP) -A second round of peace talks between Syria’s warring sides broke off today without making any progress and without a date being set for a third round, the UN mediator said.
“I think it is better that every side goes back and reflects on their responsibility, (and on whether) they want this process to continue or not,” Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Geneva.
Speaking on the final day of a second round of talks that have been mired from the start by blame-trading over the violence ravaging Syria, he apologised to the Syrian people for not making progress.
“I’m very, very sorry,” he said.
Brahimi said that the two sides now at least had reached agreement on an agenda for future talks — if they happen — something they had failed to do throughout the past week.
“At least we have agreed on an agenda. But we also have to agree on how we tackle that agenda,” Brahimi said, adding: “I very much hope there we will be a third round.” The opposition has insisted that the focus of the talks must be on creating a transitional government, without President Bashar al-Assad.
The regime representatives have meanwhile stubbornly insist President Bashar al-Assad’s position is non-negotiable and refused to discuss anything beyond the “terrorism” it blames on its opponents and their foreign backers.
Brahimi said Saturday that if the sides returned for a third round they would discuss violence and terrorism first, then the transitional governing body (TGB), followed by national institutions and finally national reconciliation and national debate.
However, he said the regime side had baulked at his suggestion that they spend one day on violence and the next on political transition “which raises the suspicion of the opposition that the government doesn’t want to discuss TGB at all.” The veteran peacemaker said a break in the talks was needed.
A boy holds his baby sister saved from under rubble, who survived what activists say was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Masaken Hanano in Aleppo February 14 (REUTERS)
“I hope that this time of reflection will lead the government side in particular to reassure the other side” that the issue of political transition will be discussed seriously, Brahimi said.
The UN mediator said he himself would soon travel to New York to report to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the situation, while he expected the parties to consult with their leaders.
“We will hear from one another in the not-too-distant future,” he said.
As the parties in Geneva failed to agree even on an agenda for their talks, the death toll mounted in Syria, where more than 136,000 people have been killed in three years.
A monitoring group said that more than 5,000 people had been killed since a first round of talks began on January 22.
The United Nations warned that more than 2,700 refugees had poured across the Lebanese border as the Syrian army carries out an offensive in the Qalamun mountains and heads towards the opposition-held town of Yabrud.
Thousands had already fled the town, but as many as 50,000 people were believed to still be inside.
Washington expressed outrage at the aerial bombings and siege of the city.
“We again call on all members of the international community, including Assad’s allies, to make clear to the regime that it must immediately cease these unwarranted attacks that undermine the Geneva process and the prospects of peace in Syria,” State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said.
‘Talks for show make no sense’
In Geneva, there was no sign of progress towards ending the three-year civil war that has killed more than 136,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.
Washington, which backs the opposition and initiated the so-called Geneva II talks with regime ally Russia, voiced deep frustration Friday at the stalemate.
“Talks for show make no sense,” a senior US official said Friday.
US President Barack Obama vowed to put more pressure on the regime, saying after talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II in California that “there will be some intermediate steps that we can take to apply more pressure to the Assad regime.” He did not specify what such steps might be.
In an effort to inject life into the talks, both the United States and Russia sent top envoys to Geneva this week to meet Brahimi and the two sides.
Washington blamed the impasse squarely on the Syrian regime, and chastised Moscow for not doing enough to push its ally to engage “seriously” in the process.