The second round of Syrian peace talks has opened in Geneva against the background of a precarious, repeatedly broken, ceasefire to allow agencies to resume an evacuation of civilians trapped for two years in the Old City of Homs and to deliver food and medicines. Yesterday the UN and the opposition expressed deep concern over the arrest and questioning by government forces, away from any third party monitoring, of 336 men "of fighting age" evacuated from the city. Over a thousand have so far left the city under the terms of the ceasefire .
The uneasy standoff in Homs is testimony to how difficult even limited agreement on temporary humanitarian measures is to achieve, let alone progress towards the target of a broader agreement on establishing a transitional government.
That reality was reflected in the decision by UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi not even to bring the warring protagonists face to face until later this week because of the rancour manifest between them at the last round of talks and his hope to keep to keep alive the chance of progress on confidence-building measures such as local ceasefires and prisoner exchanges. The talks are not making much progress, he admitted yesterday. "The beginning of this week is as laborious as it was in the first week ... for it to really take off we need cooperation from both sides here and a lot of support from the outside." There was little of either in evidence.
Brahimi has presented both sides with an 80-page memorandum proposing four main principles for this round: ending the violence and fighting terrorism; forming a transitional governing body; defining the relationship between the government and security services; and starting some form of national reconciliation dialogue. Government representatives, however, are refusing to discuss the issue of President Bashar al Assad’s future and insist the talks must include a firm commitment to combating terrorism, by which they mean opposition forces.
On Friday Brahimi is also to meet senior US and Russian diplomats in the hope that Washington and Moscow will exercise their influence with the warring parties. Although Russia, a strong ally of Damascus, has used its UN Security Council veto three times so far in defence of its ally, there are hopes a further resolution being drafted by the French demanding humanitarian access may win wider support.
To date fighting inside Syria has taken the lives of an estimated 136,000 people. The Syrian opposition coalition (SOC) issued a report yesterday claiming the government has killed more than 1,805 since the start of the Geneva II process on January 22nd – the latest manifestation of an appalling loss of life, while a humanitarian disaster continues for a great many more.