Syria opposition calls for fresh talks with Assad regime

BEIRUT: Syria´s opposition urged on Sunday the resumption of moribund United Nations-sponsored talks with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has returned to the Arab fold after years of isolation. “The international, regional and Syrian conditions provide an appropriate circumstance for the resumption of direct negotiations... under a specific agenda and timetable,” the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) said in a statement. Negotiations to resolve Syria´s crisis hit an impasse in 2018 over Assad´s role in any political transition, and several rounds of subsequent UN-brokered talks aimed at forging a new constitution have failed. The SNC, which includes representatives from main political opposition alliance the Syrian National Coalition, has been the key opposition delegation during previous rounds of talks in Geneva. In a statement on Sunday following a two-day meeting in the Swiss city, the SNC called on “brotherly and friendly countries to support the efforts of the UN to take all necessary resolutions to fulfil a comprehensive political solution”.