Geneva holds new inter-Syrian round of peace talks

Syrian government and opposition delegations started today a new round of peace talks at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, after 10 months of the failure of the last attempt to end the conflict, Prensa Latina reports.

Sponsored by the United Nations and under the mediation by special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, the talks seek to halt almost six years of war, the crisis erupted in March 2011, in which tens of thousands people were killed and about 11 million are internally displaced and took refuge.

In something like a welcoming ceremony, De Mistura met separately with government and opposition representatives, led by Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Jaafari, and chief negotiator, Nasr al-Hariri, respectively, who arrived in Geneva yesterday.

The bilateral talks should start later, sources of the organization stated.

The United Nations believes that the new process is more likely to succeed, it is based on a combination of factors, including the impossibility of a military victory, the unsustainable suffering of the population, the recent celebration in Astana of a round of talk promoted by Russia and Turkey and the impact to a certain extend of a cease-fire, also sponsored by Moscow and Ankara.

Mistura was cautious yesterday about the immediate results of the talks, based on marked differences between the parties.

The process is based on UN Security Council resolution 2254, adopted in December 2015, a road map for peace.

The objective of the meeting in Geneva is to discuss the future of Syria, on issues such as the holding of elections, the establishment of a new Constitution and the formation of a transitional government.