Syrian Government Accuses Assad's Opponents of Sabotaging Geneva Peace Talks

Bashar al-Jaafari, head of the Syrian government negotiating team at the Geneva peace talks, on Thursday, March 2, held the opposition negotiating team responsible for the potential failure of this round of negotiations. According to Reuters, al-Jaafari told reporters that he discussed fundamental issues, particularly 'the fight against terrorism,' in a meeting with Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria. The Syrian government representatives wish for the peace talks in Geneva to focus on combating 'terrorism.' The Syrian government considers all its armed opponents as terrorist groups. Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition demands discussions regarding the transfer of power in Syria, stating that Bashar al-Assad must step down to resolve the crisis and civil war in Syria. Al-Jaafari claims that the opposition negotiating team has 'taken the High Negotiations Committee' of this round of peace talks hostage. He added that the negotiating team is responsible for any failure in the Geneva peace talks. According to Reuters, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that the readiness of the Syrian opposition to reach a peace agreement in the Geneva talks is still questionable. Meanwhile, Nasr al-Hariri, the chief negotiator for the opposition team, stated that they had constructive discussions with de Mistura on Thursday. However, Bassam Kaddamani, one of the senior opposition negotiators, mentioned that the outlook for the war in Syria is not very clear. The Syrian civil war has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced over the past six years. Russia and Iran are the main allies of Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war. Former US President Barack Obama accused Assad's government, Russia, and Iran last year of rendering efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria fruitless, stating that the blood of Syrian victims is on their hands. In this context, Syrian government forces have once again seized the ancient city of Palmyra. The Security Council is voting on a resolution against the Syrian government, and the US Secretary of Defense has presented a plan to combat 'ISIS' to the White House.