Is dialogue on the horizon in Syria – or more bloodshed?
Syria’s foreign minister says the government is ready to hold talks with the opposition, but a rebel leader says there can be no dialogue while President Bashar al-Assad remains in power.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said the government is “ready for dialogue” to end Syria’s bloody civil war.
“We are ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it…Even with those who have weapons in their hands. Because we believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue,” the minister was reported as saying by Russian news agency Itar-Tass, ahead of scheduled talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
Russia has refused to condemn President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, despite widespread international concern over the violence and recent calls from the UN’s human rights chief, Navi Pillay, that the president should be investigated for war crimes.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition has said many times in the past that it will only negotiate a peace deal if President Assad steps down.
Speaking to al-Arabiya television after Mr al-Moualem’s comments, a rebel leader reiterated that position.
We are ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it. Even with those who have weapons in their hands. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem
“We will not go [into talks] unless these demands are realised,” Brigadier Selim Idris said.
Almost 70,000 people have died in Syria since violence began almost two years ago, sparked by tough government crackdowns on protests inspired by the Arab Spring movement.
Just last week, at least 53 people died in a car bomb attack on the ruling party’s headquarters in Damascus. The following day, scores more died in rocket attacks in Aleppo (pictured above), and violence continues across the country.