Syria opposition considers UN offer after “positive” talks

Tuesday, 2 February 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Syria’s main opposition group is considering a proposal by U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura that could pave the way to the delegation pressing ahead with talks after holding their first meeting with him on Sunday, a Western diplomatic source said.

Representatives of the Saudi-backed Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC), which includes political and militant opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, had warned earlier in the day that they may yet walk away from the Geneva talks unless the suffering of civilians in the five-year conflict is eased.

With Islamic State bombers killing over 60 people near the country’s holiest Shi’ite shrine, the Syrian government’s chief delegate retorted that the blasts in Damascus merely confirmed the link between the opposition and terrorism - even though Islamic State has been excluded from the talks.

The United Nations is aiming for six months of talks that would focus on achieving a broad ceasefire, while working toward a political settlement to the civil war that has killed over 250,000 people, driven more than 10 million from their homes and drawn in global powers.

After the HNC initially insisted air strikes and sieges of Syrian towns must end before it joins the “proximity talks”, in which de Mistura would meet each side in separate rooms, there appeared to be some signs of a softening in their position on Sunday evening.

HNC spokesman Salim al-Muslat described discussions with de Mistura as very positive and encouraging “concerning humanitarian issues.” The delegation met for several hours later on Sunday to debate the proposal.

The U.N. special envoy’s office said he would meet the Syrian government delegation on Monday at 1100 (1000 GMT) and the HNC at 1700 (1600 GMT).

“De Mistura made them a proposition, and that’s tempting them to enter the negotiations. They are very prudent,” a Western diplomatic source said, adding he was not aware of the content of the offer.

The delegation representing the HNC is seeking a halt to attacks on civilian areas, the release of detainees and a lifting of blockades. It has a list of 3,000 women and children in Syrian government jails.

The measures were mentioned in a Security Council resolution approved last month that endorsed the peace process for Syria.

“They want tangible and visible things immediately. Things they can give to their grassroots,” the source said. “Certain things aren’t possible immediately like the end of the bombings, but the easiest is the release of civilians, women and children.”

“Total” sieges

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the talks - the first in two years - as long overdue. “I urge all parties to put the people of Syria at the heart of their discussions, and above partisan interests,” he said during a visit to Ethiopia.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged both sides to seize the opportunity to make progress. “In the end there is no military solution to the conflict,” he said in a televised statement.

The Syrian government’s delegation head in Geneva, Bashar al-Jaafari, said Damascus was considering options such as ceasefires, humanitarian corridors and prisoner releases, but suggested they might come about as a result of the talks, not before them.

“Absolutely, this is part of the agenda that we agreed upon and that will be one of the very important topics we will discuss among ourselves as Syrian citizens,” Jaafari said.

Russian air strikes have killed nearly 1,400 civilians since Moscow started its aerial campaign in support of Assad nearly four months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Saturday. Opposition delegate Bassma Kodmani said the bombings had increased in the last week. “In preparations for the negotiations, everything has intensified. The sieges have become total,” she said, adding later that her delegation was likely to stay at least three to four days in Geneva.

On Sunday, the United Nations said that Mouadamiya, a rebel-held town of 45,000 on the southwestern edge of Damascus, faced a new siege by government forces.

Moscow has objected to two Islamist rebel groups, Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, taking any part in the talks. However, a negotiator from Jaish al-Islam, Mohamed Alloush, told Reuters he was going to Geneva to show that the Syrian government was not serious about seeking a political solution.

In another sign that talks may gather pace, the Western diplomat and a source close to the opposition said the HNC’s main coordinator Riad Hijab could also arrive on Monday.

Malala seeks to raise $ 1.4 b to educate Syrian refugees

Reuters: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will seek to inspire world leaders at a conference in London on Thursday to commit $1.4 billion this year to give Syrian refugee children access to education, she told Reuters on Sunday.

Heads of state and government and ministers from countries around the world will converge on London for the “Supporting Syria and the region” conference, which aims to raise funds for humanitarian crises caused by the Syrian war.

Some 700,000 Syrian children living in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon and in other Middle Eastern countries are out of DFT-21 school, according to a report issued by the Malala Fund, which campaigns and fundraises for educational causes.

“I have met so many Syrian refugee children, they are still in my mind. I can’t forget them. The thought that they won’t be able to go to school in their whole life is completely shocking and I cannot accept it,” Malala said in a telephone interview.

“We can still help them, we can still protect them. They are not lost yet. They need schools. They need books. They need teachers. This is the way we can protect the future of Syria.”

A Pakistani teenage education activist who came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012, Malala continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Now 18, she lives in Britain but devotes much of her time and energy to the cause of education for Syrian refugee children. An accomplished public speaker who brought a United Nations audience to its feet in a celebrated speech in 2013, she hopes to make a powerful impact at the London event.

“We can’t wait”

“I’m hoping to encourage and inspire world leaders to take action. I’m not going to wait. We can’t wait. It needs to happen.”

She will appear at the London conference alongside 17-year-old schoolgirl Muzoon Almellehan, who will be the only young Syrian refugee to address world leaders at the event.

“Without education we cannot do anything,” Muzoon said on the same call as Malala.

She said she was working hard on improving her English so she could complete her schooling in Britain and go to university, but also wanted to dedicate herself with “my sister” Malala to the cause of education for fellow Syrian refugees.

The pair first met in 2014 at the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, and were reunited in December last year when Muzoon was resettled in northern England.

“She is the one that I want people to listen to. Her story is so powerful, it’s so inspiring. She’s going to tell world leaders that these children have a right to an education and they must not ignore it,” said Malala.

Co-hosted by the United Nations and the governments of Britain, Germany, Norway and Kuwait, the London conference is not limited to education but aims to obtain pledges from countries to meet a range of Syrian humanitarian needs.

U.N. agencies are appealing for a total of $7.73 billion to cope with Syria’s needs this year and an additional $1.2 billion are required by regional governments for their own plans to deal with the impact of Syria’s conflict.

In previous years, donor funding has fallen short of U.N. appeals.