Shaky start to Syria peace talks in Russia as opposition delegates refuse to leave Sochi airport

A Russian-organised peace conference aimed at ending the war in Syria had a shambolic start on Tuesday, after dozens of opposition delegates refused to leave the airport in Sochi and others backed out at the last minute. Moscow, a staunch Assad ally, is hosting what it has called a Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort that it hopes will launch negotiations on drafting a new constitution for Syria after almost seven years of war. But the conference, which is running in parallel to the United Nations-negotiated talks, looked in jeopardy after more than 70 rebel delegates refused to leave the airport until all logos and emblems representing the government were removed. A rebel source told the Telegraph Russia had promised to change or remove the symbol of the congress, which read “Peace to the People of Syria” but only featured the regime flag, only to be greeted by them at the arrivals gate. Sochi conference logo (w/only regime flag) causing problems. Apparently a group of opposition members refused to board one of the buses with it at the airport. They sat at the terminal until other transport was arranged. pic.twitter.com/hjSVlH0uR1— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) January 30, 2018 The Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), the country's main opposition group, meanwhile said following two days of UN-led talks in Vienna last week that it would not attend the Sochi congress. Turkey, which backs the opposition and is co-sponsoring the talks with Iran, which supports Bashar al-Assad’s government, said it would represent the rebels. Lt. Col. Ahmad al-Saud of Idlib's Free Syrian Army claimed the opposition delegation was mistreated by Russian authorities at the airport, where he was detained for several hours Credit: Twitter/CombatChris1 Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, was heckled during his opening statement, with several delegates accusing Moscow of killing civilians in Syria with its air strikes. “In Russia, it's polite to say ‘please’ first,” Mr Lavrov responded, saying they would have a chance to speak later. The conference was initially billed as a two-day event but was cut down to one. Observers noted that much of Tuesday’s programme was taken up with a long lunch and dinner, leaving little time for discussion. Attendees shout slogans prior to a plenary session at the Congress of Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi  Credit: AFP Britain, the US and France did not send any official delegates because of what they say is the government's refusal to properly engage. Western powers support the UN process, which is now in its ninth round but has so far failed to make any major headway. The conference was also also boycotted by Kurdish delegates over Turkey’s offensive on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in Afrin, a northern Syrian enclave on the border with Turkey. A few Kurdish officials attended in a personal capacity and reportedly met in private with Russian counterparts on the sidelines of the conference. The main aim of the Sochi talks is to establish a committee to create a post-war constitution for Syria with UN backing, according to a draft statement. However, any deal agreed without he Kurds, which control some 25 per cent of territory in Syria, will unlikely succeed.  The poor start is a blow to Russia, which has been positioning itself a Middle East peace broker and trying to consolidate influence in the region as the US increasingly takes a step back from the Syrian crisis under President Donald Trump. "The whole point of the congress was to have a serious negotiation with the Kurds, or at least the Higher Negotiating Committee (the most relevant opposition body)," Neil Hauer, s security analyst focused on Russia-Syria relations, told the Telegraph from Sochi.  "Neither of them are here, and as such there's not much that can be discussed. Nor will anything announced here have much legitimacy. It will be very difficult for the Russians to spin this as a win." The opposition has accused Russia of not being an honest broker after failing to uphold a deal made in previous round of talks in Kazakhstan. Both sides agreed to so-called de-escalation zones across Syria, which government forces have since violated. Hours before the the congress got underway, nearly a dozen civilians were killed in a pro-government air strike on the largest market in rebel-held Idlib province. The government is now focused on the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaeda-linked militants and home to more than 2.6 million people, nearly half of whom have fled from other areas. It appears to have stepped up its bombing campaign in Idlib in recent days. The Observatory reported 90 airstrikes in Idlib on Monday alone.

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