DUSHANBE, March 2, 2016, Asia-Plus — According to
Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
(
DPA
;
German Press Agency
), UN mediator Staffan de Mistura has said that peace talks on Syria are set to restart in Geneva on March 9, two days later than originally planned.
“In order to allow adequate time to address logistical and practical matters, the Special Envoy will now resume the talks on 9 March 2016,” his spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Geneva talks were paused in February amid a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive around Aleppo that triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of civilians.
Shortly before a “cessation of hostilities” deal brokered by the United States and Moscow went into effect on Saturday, de Mistura announced that the talks would resume on March 7 if the ceasefire held.
“The scheduled talks depends on the situation on the ground,” Samir al Nashar, a member of the Syrian National Coalition told
DPA
. “We are witnessing an increase in the ceasefire violations by the Russians and the Syrian regime and if this continues the ceasefire will collapse.”
“The shaky ceasefire will threaten any future peace talks,” he added.
The ceasefire was largely holding on Tuesday, despite accusations from the opposition that Russia and the Syrian government targeted rebel-held areas.
Meanwhile, in an interview to German public broadcaster
ARD
, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said about the ceasefire: “We”ll do our part so that the whole (thing) works.”
Al-Assad admitted that Syria was no longer “completely sovereign” and needed the backing of Russia, Iran and Lebanon – in an apparent reference to the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which has provided key backing to his overstretched forces.
He said that support from those countries would limit the spread of Islamist terrorism, not just to neighboring countries, but to other regions.
“In the end they haven”t come to defend us, but to defend themselves,” he said.
Al-Assad welcomed Germany”s help in taking in Syrian refugees but questioned whether it “wouldn”t be smarter and less expensive” to help Syrians to live in their own country.
