BEIRUT: Syrian rebel groups said on Monday they will attend peace talks next week, in a boost to efforts by rivals Turkey and Russia to put an end to the nearly six-year-old conflict.
The talks, beginning on January 23 in the Kazakh capital Astana, are set to build on a nationwide truce that has largely held despite escalating violence across several battlefronts in recent days.
Organised by rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran, the meetings are the latest bid to put an end to the brutal war raging in Syria since March 2011.
The powers have backed opposing sides of Syria´s conflict for years but have worked closely in recent weeks to end the bloodshed.
If the Astana meetings are successful, they could bode well for fresh UN-hosted negotiations on the conflict next month in Geneva.
“All the rebel groups are going (to Astana). Everyone has agreed,” said Mohammad Alloush, a leading figure in the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group.
“Astana is a process to end the bloodletting by the regime and its allies. We want to end this series of crimes,” Alloush said.
Ahmad al-Othman from the Sultan Murad faction confirmed rebel factions would attend.
Sources from the opposition and the regime said the talks would “probably” be face-to-face. Several rounds of peace talks held by the United Nations have failed to produce a political solution to the conflict.
The Astana talks will assume a different approach, focusing strictly on military developments ahead of political discussions in Switzerland in February.
“The Russian, Turkish and Iranian approach is exactly the opposite of what was previously done in Geneva,” said Waddah Abd Rabbo, editor of the Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government.
“The UN thought that if a political solution was reached, it would have an impact on the end of the fighting. But this time, the situation must be resolved on the ground to pave the way for political negotiations,” he said.
Ahmad Ramazan, from the leading National Coalition opposition group, said the Astana talks would aim to reinforce the truce “while the details of the political process will be left to Geneva”.
Osama Abu Zeid, a legal adviser to rebel groups, said rebels were encouraged to attend by the fact that “the agenda will be focused only on the ceasefire” in force since December 30.
The opposition´s delegation to Astana “will be only military” but will consult “a team of legal and political advisers” from the High Negotiations Committee umbrella group, he said.
Abu Zeid said the Fateh al-Sham Front, which changed its name from Al-Nusra Front after breaking away from al-Qaeda, would not attend the Astana talks.
US President-elect Donald Trump´s transition team has been invited, but has not yet officially responded.
Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was “optimistic” about the talks and would be “ready for reconciliation with (rebels) on the condition that they lay down their arms”.