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Syrian opposition asks U.N. to halt peace talks

18 April 2016 22:27 (UTC +04:00)

BAKU-APA. The mainstream Syrian opposition asked the United Nations to halt peace talks on Monday and rebel groups launched a new offensive against government forces, accusing the world body of bias in favor of President Bashar al-Assad.

The opposition's coordinator at the Geneva talks, Riad Hijab, said earlier it was unacceptable for talks to go on if the government and its allies pushed on with sieges and bombing civilian areas, echoing recent criticism of government offensives elsewhere, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Only three delegates met U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura for talks on Monday, instead of the usual 15, after a letter signed by unspecified "armed revolutionary factions" said de Mistura and the government were trying to put forward "half-solutions".

"We asked for the postponement of talks, only a postponement until the conditions are right," Mohammad al Aboud, a member of the negotiating team, told Reuters.

The Western-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) later confirmed the decision in a statement, saying a pause would be "a chance ... to respond to the core subject of forming a governing body that has no role for Assad".

The HNC emphasized that it was not walking out of the talks, the first attempt to negotiate a way out of the five-year-old conflict in two years; a diplomat said they wanted the United Nations to publicly criticize the government.

"De Mistura must imperatively reassure the opposition," one senior Western diplomat said. "He needs to make a public statement putting pressure on the government. It’s in his interest to keep the talks alive. He needs to say that the regime isn't listening."

A Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities agreement was meant to provide a breathing space for talks to end the war via a transitional authority and elections. But the government, which is backed by Russia and Iran, says Assad must stay in power pending national elections.

Both sides have accused the other of breaking the partial truce deal, which does not include Islamic State or al Qaeda's Nusra Front, and which began to unravel as fighting escalated near Syria's second city Aleppo this month.

On Monday, rebels launched a fierce attack against government forces in Latakia province, which lies on the Mediterranean coast, and made separate advances further east in Hama, while there were heavy government air strikes in Homs province to the south.