Morning Star.png Syria in Geneva for Peace Talks Meanwhile terrorists are retreating on all fronts James Tweedie, The Morning Star, London, 30 January 2016 The Syrian delegation arrived for peace talks in Geneva yesterday, [while Saudi-backed extremist rebels styled their delegation a "fact-finding team".] The [Syrian Arab Republic] delegation, led by Syria's permanent representative to the UN Dr Bashar al-Jaafari, was welcomed by UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. Bashar al-Jaafari arrives.jpg Ambassador Dr Bashar al-Jaafari (right), Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, arrives in Geneva for Syria-Syria peace talks But the High Negotiating Council (HNC) - a coalition of militant groups convened under the Saudi Arabian aegis in December - [pretended to] refuse to attend until the Syrian army and its Russian and Lebanese allies stop fighting and allow supplies to be brought in. Saudi and alleged Islamic State (Isis) ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed the HNC's [sham] boycott. "Russia's constant bombing of the opposition regions is causing serious distress within the opposition. For them to attend without a ceasefire is a betrayal for those who are at the front," he said. Secular opposition attending But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on all forces invited to the talks to participate without preconditions. Maria Zakharova.jpg Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met another delegation of secular opposition groups willing to participate in talks and new elections. Terrorists on the run Meanwhile, Syrian forces continued to make gains on the battlefield against Isis and other insurgents. The Special Forces division known as the Tiger Forces under General Suheil al-Hassan launched a two-pronged offensive yesterday to retake the key Aleppo thermal power plant between Aleppo City and Kweires air force base. By the evening troops had liberated the village of Afesh. And army soldiers began advancing on Kinsiba, the last rebel stronghold in Latakia province. From: <http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-62b9-Syria-arrives-for-peace-talks-des pite-Saudi-backed-boycott#.VqxFRrJ9600> http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-62b9-Syria-arrives-for-peace-talks-desp ite-Saudi-backed-boycott#.VqxFRrJ9600 [Updates by CU] -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
