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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Syria peace talks struggle

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GENEVA: The UN sought painstakingly on Friday to get a new round of Syrian peace talks off the ground, but there were few signs of progress as dozens more civilian deaths underlined the scale of the challenge.


The UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who brought rival regime and opposition delegates symbolically together late on Thursday, held separate meetings with them on Friday to hammer out the format for the meetings.


But there appeared to be no discussion of substance, either with the UN and certainly not between the rival parties themselves.


“We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively,” said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al Jaafari after meeting De Mistura.


“We are going to talk about procedure,” a member of the opposition delegation, Assad Hana, said before an afternoon meeting with the UN envoy.


UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “encouraged that the Syrians... sat together in the same room,” even if it remains unclear whether the two sides will hold face-to-face negotiations.


Meanwhile, the UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria as the US, France and Britain pushed for sanctions on those responsible for the attacks. — AFP


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