UN says Syria talks may be delayed over disagreements
The United Nations peace talks on Syria scheduled for January 25 in Geneva, Switzerland may be delayed over disagreements between the major parties over which of the Syrian opposition groups should be invited.
"The UN will proceed with issuing invitations when the countries spearheading the international Syria support group process come to an understanding on who among the opposition should be invited. The Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] urges these countries to redouble efforts to reach that agreement," the spokesman for the UN, Farhan Haq, explained to reporters according to Voice of America.
The United States and its allies routinely accuse the Russians of bombing "moderate" opposition groups instead of fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). Russia and the Syrian regime dismiss the "moderate" label claiming that all groups they bomb in Syria are "terrorists".
Many of the groups that the U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey want included are Islamists. Including Jaish al-Islam whose leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air strike believed to have been carried out by Russia last December 25 and a coalition of Islamist groups, Jaish al-Fatah, that has the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda in its ranks, which the Russians and Syrians have been bombing in Idlib province for months now.
"The UN will proceed with issuing invitations when the countries spearheading the international Syria support group process come to an understanding on who among the opposition should be invited. The Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] urges these countries to redouble efforts to reach that agreement," the spokesman for the UN, Farhan Haq, explained to reporters according to Voice of America.
The United States and its allies routinely accuse the Russians of bombing "moderate" opposition groups instead of fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). Russia and the Syrian regime dismiss the "moderate" label claiming that all groups they bomb in Syria are "terrorists".
Many of the groups that the U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey want included are Islamists. Including Jaish al-Islam whose leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air strike believed to have been carried out by Russia last December 25 and a coalition of Islamist groups, Jaish al-Fatah, that has the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda in its ranks, which the Russians and Syrians have been bombing in Idlib province for months now.