Syria says to discuss Russia peace plan talks, opposition rejects
Syrian National Coalition says Russia "does not have a clear initiative"
Asharq Al-Awsat Saturday, 27 Dec, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/12/article55339836

Beirut/Cairo, Reuters—Syria said on Saturday it is willing to participate in
“preliminary consultations” in Moscow aimed at restarting peace talks next
year to end its civil war.

But members of the Western-backed Syrian opposition dismissed the Russian
plan on Saturday, saying there was “no initiative.”

Syrian state television quoted a source at the foreign ministry saying
“Syria is ready to participate in preliminary consultations in Moscow in
order to meet the aspirations of Syrians to find a way out of crisis.”

Moscow, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has pushed to restart
talks that collapsed in Geneva in February.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this month that he wanted Syrian
opposition groups to agree among themselves on a common approach before
setting up direct talks with the Damascus government.

But Lavrov did not specify which opposition groups should take part. Some
opposition groups are tolerated by Damascus but shunned by the opposition in
exile.

Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Turkey-based opposition Syrian National
Coalition, met with Arab League Chief Nabil El-Araby in Cairo on Saturday
and told a news conference that “there is no initiative as rumored”.

“Russia does not have a clear initiative, and what is called for by Russia
is just a meeting and dialogue in Moscow, with no specific paper or
initiative,” he was quoted by Egyptian state news agency MENA as saying.

Russia has long backed Assad, including with arms supplies for Syria, but he
has become a more important ally for Moscow since the 2011 Arab Spring
protests toppled several autocrats in the Middle East, some of whom had
close ties with Moscow.