Syrian opposition vows not to participate if demands not met

Geneva - The main opposition group's demands are : releasing detainees, ending the bombardment of civilians by Russian and Syrian forces among others.

The main Syrian opposition delegation vowed on Saturday not to participate in UN-sponsored peace talks with the government unless their demands are met, including lifting the siege imposed on rebel-held areas and an end to Russian and Syrian bombardment of regions controlled by opposition fighters.
The oppositions warned that if these conditions are not met, there will be no reason for the team to stay in Geneva.
The nearly five-year conflict has left at least 250,000 people dead, forced millions to flee the country and given an opening to Daesh to capture territory in Syria and Iraq. It has drawn in US and Russia, as well as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
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The indirect peace talks began here on Friday with a meeting between the United Nations envoy and the Syrian government delegation. The main opposition group, the Higher Negotiations Committee or HNC, boycotted that session saying it won't take part until a set of preliminary demands are met: releasing detainees, ending the bombardment of civilians by Russian and Syrian forces, and lifting government blockades on rebel-held areas.
The HNC later agreed to send a delegation to meet with UN officials, while still insisting it would not negotiate until their demands are met. The HNC decision to come to Geneva gave a glimmer of hope that peace efforts in Syria might actually get off the ground for the first time since two earlier rounds of negotiations collapsed in 2014.
"We are here to discuss humanitarian matters first and if this happens we will start the negotiations," the opposition's delegation chief spokesman Salem Al Mislet told reporters upon the arrival of some two dozen members at their hotel in Geneva. "If not, there will be no negotiations and there will be no reason for us to stay here."
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He added that the HNC team will discuss these issues with UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura during a meeting scheduled for Sunday.
"We are keen to make this negotiation a success but you should ask the other side. The other side is pretending to present the Syrian people. In fact he is killing the Syrian people. We're here to save the remaining children of Syria," Al Mislet said in English.
The meetings in Geneva, billed as multiparty talks, are part of a process outlined in a UN resolution last month that envisions an 18-month timetable for a political transition in Syria, including the drafting of a new constitution and elections.

• MENA