The Syrian government on Saturday said the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad remains a “red line,” just two days ahead of renewed talks to put an end to the war.
The Syrian government on Saturday said the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad remains a “red line,” just two days ahead of renewed talks to put an end to the war.
“We will not talk with anyone who wants to discuss the presidency... Bashar al-Assad is a red line,” foreign minister Walid Muallem said.
US secretary of state John Kerry said meanwhile that the indirect negotiations between the Syrian government and the Opposition were likely to go ahead as planned on Monday in Geneva.
The UN-brokered talks are the latest push to find a solution to Syria’s five-year war.
Mr Kerry said US and Russian officials would meet later on Saturday on Syrian Opposition complaints of truce violations. Asked at the end of a visit to Saudi Arabia whether indirect dialogue in Geneva between the Syrian regime and Opposition could go ahead on Monday, Mr Kerry said: “Yes, it can.”
“Our teams are meeting today with Russia in both Geneva and Amman, where very detailed lay downs will take place regarding these allegations and I am requesting a call with foreign minister (Sergei) Lavrov today and we will work through these and we have been each day,” he said of the Opposition complaints.
Air raids by the Syrian regime killed seven civilians in rebel-held areas of second city Aleppo on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
But Mr Kerry said that “perceived” violations of the ceasefire that went into effect on February 27 should not get in the way of peace talks that the United Nations hopes will lead to a new elected leadership within 18 months.
“We want to try to not litigate the specifics in pu-blic, we’re trying to deal with them and we’ve been pretty effective at that,” the top US diplomat said.
Meanwhile, two leaders from the Syrian Opposit-ion delegation arrived in Geneva on Saturday ahe-ad of peace talks.
