HNC Demands Holding Direct Talks With Gov’t to Speed Up Geneva Talks

GENEVA (Sputnik) — The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) intends to accelerate the negotiation process on Syria’s reconciliation, which requires the international community to insist on conducting direct negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition, the HNC delegation head told Sputnik on Saturday.

"We seriously intend to accelerate the negotiations process. I believe that the regime, as always, is not serious and will not be ready to hold direct negotiations. We demand that the international community insists on the need to start direct negotiations, to accelerate the process of political transition," Asaad Zoubi said.

Zoubi added that the new round of intra-Syrian proximity talks, which started in Geneva on April 13, would continue within the negotiated time frame.

"[UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan] de Mistura knows, he knows that there is a certain deadline and that even some of the states agreed to participate within this term. After its expiry, the negotiation process will not last long, there will be no marathon," the HNC delegation head stated.

The Geneva talks on Syria’s reconciliation with the participation of the Damascus delegation as well as three opposition groups — the Riyadh-formed HNC, the Moscow-Cairo and the Hmeimim groups — are expected to entail discussions on the topics of political transition, governance, and the constitution, according to the UN special envoy.

On Wednesday, de Mistura told reporters that the participants of the talks should be ready to face each other for direct dialogue. However, Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoubi told Russian journalists in an interview that this would not be possible.