MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The new round of the UN-mediated intra-Syria talks started in Geneva on Thursday. Riyadh-backed Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has changed its team for this round of talks and now includes nine members of the Free Syrian Army and other military factions, including Jaysh al-Islam leader Mohammed Alloush.
"If we want to discuss Syrian future, the new Syrian constitution or to reform the Syrian laws, including election laws, to form a new coalition government, the proposed for Geneva format is unlikely to bear fruits. We need a third group which will include old and new Syrian parties, civil society, independent representatives as well as tribes," Ahmad said.
The Damascus Platform, which includes civil society groups as well as the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), was created in November 2016.
The opposition group, which had not been invited to take part in the fresh round of Geneva talks, rules out being in one delegation with armed groups such as Jaysh al-Islam, Ahmad stressed.
"The Damascus Platform… will refuse to participate in Geneva talks, even if we receive an invitation to the negotiations, or any further talks as a part of a united opposition delegation which includes armed opposition groups. We cannot be a part of the same delegation with Mohammed Alloush and with armed groups, which were shelling the city of Damascus and the Russian embassy. We should be in a separate delegation," Ahmad, who is also a SSNP member, said.
The lack of invitation from UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to the Geneva talks is a violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which approved the roadmap for Syrian settlement, Ahmad noted.
"Staffan de Mistura is acting in favor of HNC and wants to arrange these talks without clear understanding on how to proceed. He just wants to carry on negotiations for the sake of negotiations," Ahmad emphasized.
The Syrian government delegation at the ongoing talks is traditionally headed by Syria's UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari. The so-called Moscow and Cairo platforms of Syrian opposition have arrived at the talks, while the Hmeimim opposition platform was not invited.
