Syria opposition agrees to attend Geneva talks

BEIRUT / AP

Syria’s opposition on Monday agreed to attend a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks set for this week in Geneva after a landmark ceasefire led to a dramatic drop in fighting.
The truce between President Bashar Al Assad’s regime and non-extremist rebels, brokered by Russia and the United States, has defied expectations and led to the first significant decline in violence in Syria’s nearly five-year civil war.
The United Nations is hoping it can now restart talks on a political transition that collapsed last month in Geneva. The opposition, represented by the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, had held off on committing to the talks but on Monday said the 10-day-old “cessation of hostilities” was making a difference.
“After consultations, the High Negotiations Committee agreed to go to Geneva. The delegation is expected to arrive on Friday,” Riad Naasan Agha, a spokesman for the group, said.
“We have noticed a sharp decline in ceasefire violations in recent days and progress in the humanitarian file,” particularly with regards to aid deliveries to besieged towns, Agha said. The ceasefire agreed on February 27 is part of the biggest diplomatic effort yet to resolve Syria’s conflict.

‘Calmest day’ since truce
Russia and the United States are on opposing sides of the conflict—Moscow backs Assad and Washington supports the opposition—but the two powers have made a concerted push for the ceasefire and further peace efforts to succeed.
Observers say the partial truce, which does not apply to extremists from the IS group or the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front, has largely held despite widespread scepticism before it took effect.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said on Sunday had been the “calmest day” in Syria since the ceasefire began. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that the average number of civilian deaths a day had fallen by 90 percent since the ceasefire came into force, with an 80 percent decline among soldiers and rebel forces.
Moscow, which has provided a daily account of ceasefire violations, said Monday that the truce was still “in general” holding apart from unspecified “isolated provocations and shelling”. It said Russian planes were continuing to carry out air strikes against IS and Al-Nusra in three provinces, including on the main IS stronghold of Raqa. Russia launched an air campaign in September it says is targeting “terrorists” but has been accused of hitting non-extremist rebels in support of Assad’s forces.