Brahimi apologises to Syrians after failure of Geneva II peace talks

The UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, apologised to the Syrian people on Saturday after his mediation between the regime and opposition delegations ended in failure. “I am very, very sorry and I apologise to the Syrian people … their hopes … were very, very high here, that something will happen here,” Brahimi told journalists..

“The regime’s delegation refused to address a third of the negotiation’s agenda and insisted on discussing terrorism; while the opposition insisted on discussing the transitional government” said Brahimi. He pointed out that a new date for a fresh round of talks has not yet been set and asked the parties to reconsider the usefulness of the negotiations especially “ending the violence” and “forming a transitional government”.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, Louay Safi, said the security of the various Syrian sects would bring a peaceful solution, but the regime insists on the military option. He noted that Brahimi had hoped to stop the regime’s violence against civilians. “We want the safety and unity of all sects of the Syrian people”, he said; adding that “the success of the next round of talks depends on the regime’s seriousness and Russia’s position”. Safi accused the regime of using “false pretences including the fight against terrorism to stall talks”.

Safi pointed out that the opposition’s delegation was very flexible and willing to discuss combatting terrorism, unlike the regime’s delegation. “We came to Geneva to exhaust all means to stop the violence although the Geneva statement provides for the formation of a transitional governing body” he said. He affirmed that violence would stop when a transitional governing body is formed. “The body would include national figures who had served Syria.

Meanwhile, a member of the Assad regime’s delegation, Bashar Jaafari, described the atmosphere surrounding the Geneva II conference as futile denying claims that Brahimi held his government’s delegation responsible for the failure of the talks. Jaafari said that “the opposition delegation considered our insistence to discuss terrorism as secondary” and blamed them for the failure of the second round of talks.