Syrian Peace Talks’ Modest Goals Threaten to Backfire
The failure of the first round of the Syrian peace talks to achieve even their most modest goal -- allowing humanitarian access to the city of Homs -- now threatens to derail the effort to end the country’s civil war.
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has refused to let an aid convoy enter blockaded areas of Homs, derailing United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi’s effort to build confidence in the “Geneva II” talks by reaching consensus on matters less contentious than forming a transitional government that might not include Assad.
While President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address this week that “we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve -- a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear,” the talks may have the opposite effect after the first round ended today without tangible accomplishments.
“The regime can use agreements over humanitarian issues -- which will be difficult to implement anyway -- to claim that it is cooperating with the international community, even as the regime continues its brutal actions in Syria,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Center in Beirut. “The longer the Geneva II talks last, the longer the Assad regime can stay in power as negotiations continue.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-31/syrian-peace-talks-modest-goals-threaten-to-backfire.html