20 April 2016•Update: 26 April 2016
GENEVA
The delegation head of Bashar al-Assad regime has said peace talks in Geneva would continue despite the Syrian opposition’s decision to pull out of the current round.
The regime delegation led by Bashar Jaafari met with UN Deputy Special Envoy Ramzy Ezzeddin Ramzy at the UN Office in Geneva on Wednesday after the Syrian opposition postponed peace talks Monday due to what it said were deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Syria.
Following the meeting, Jaafari said: "Ramzy reiterated that the UN considers talks to be ongoing in spite of the withdrawal of the Saudi delegation [Syrian opposition delegation].
"If they [opposition] leave the talks, the talks will not lose anything because they do not represent the Syrian people. Quite on the contrary, by leaving they may be taking away a major obstacle that will allow us to reach a solution," he said.
Riad Hijab, chief coordinator for the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, said Tuesday that the cessation-of-hostilities agreement no longer existed on the ground, claiming that more than 550 Syrians had been killed and nearly 1,100 wounded since the warring parties signed the truce in late February.
On Monday, the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the opposition delegation had unilaterally postponed indirect talks with regime delegates.
Key Syrian opposition delegation members, including Hijab, left Geneva Tuesday following the postponement.
The latest round of talks to resolve the Syria conflict began Wednesday last week. The regime delegation joined the talks Friday following parliamentary elections in Syria.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed, according to UN figures released months ago.
