!KNOW BETTTER WITH MESOP NEWS! : Opposition-Rebels to Name Delegates for Next Talks

12 Febr 2017 – The High Negotiations Committee will soon announce its delegates for the next set of political talks involving the Assad regime, planned for Geneva on February 20.HNC spokesman Salim al-Muslit said on Saturday that the 20 members have been selected. Another officials said Nasr al-Hariri of the Syrian National Coalition will lead the group.

At the resumption of discussions in the Kazakhstan capital Astana in late January, Mohammad Alloush of the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam was the chief negotiator. Muslit said rebel factions will continue to be involved in Geneva as well as Kurdish, Turkmen, and Christian representatives: “It is a military political delegation and it represents everyone. Each component will nominate the person it finds suitable.”

Twenty legal advisors will accompany the negotiators, he added.

Russia, which along with Turkey have brokered the renewed talks following the re-occupation of Aleppo city by pro-Assad forces and a nominal ceasefire, have balanced the process with the presentation of an alternative “opposition”. Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met politicians and activists favored by Moscow, including Louay Hussein, Randa Kassis, and Qadri Jamil.

The UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has hinted that some of the alternative group could be brought to Geneva, at one point declaring that the UN would choose the opposition delegates if they could not agree “to make sure that [the group] can be as inclusive as possible”. However, Moscow has not yet pressed for the faction to be seated at Geneva.The initial talks in Astana yielded no progress, with the regime delegation =– led by UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja’afari — calling the opposition-rebel bloc “terrorists” and President Assad ruling out any transitional government and his eventual departure from power.. www.mesop.de