By Fatih Erel
GENEVA (AA) – The UN envoy to Syria on Friday demanded the Syrian regime address the political transition at the next round of peace talks.
“l intent to convene intra-Syria talks again in early September and l have asked the parties to be ready to offer clear, substantive position on issues across all four baskets,” Staffan de Mistura told reporters after the latest round of Syria peace talks.
The talks were expected to focus on Syria’s Constitution, governance, elections and the fight against terrorism — the same issues that have been discussed previously.
De Mistura met with both sides separately during the talks.
“We hope that we will be pushing them to sit in the same room,” de Mistura said.
The UN envoy said he has not seen any indications so far the Syrian regime wanted to tackle the political transition issue. “l have been asking them for the next round to be ready to address political process,” he said.
The head of the main opposition delegation at the ongoing talks in Geneva, Nasr al-Hariri, said Friday the regime used chemical weapon in the East Ghouta neighborhood of Damascus on Friday that injured many people.
On Wednesday, Hariri called on the UN to put pressure on the regime after its “refusal” to join political negotiations.
“What we see is the refusal of the regime to participate in political negotiations. It will not involve itself in political discussions or negotiations. We asked the Syrian envoy to hold to his responsibility to defend a serious political process,” he said.
The seventh round of peace talks began Monday and ended Friday.
Since civil war in Syria erupted in March 2011, more than 250,000 people have been killed, according to the UN. The Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000.
