Syria talks in Geneva postponed from Feb 8 until end of the month: Lavrov

UN-hosted negotiations on the Syrian conflict planned for February 8 in Geneva have been postponed until the end of that month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

"The date of February 8 has been put back until the end of next month," Lavrov told a meeting with Syrian opposition groups to discuss the peace talks in Astana that ended on Tuesday without a major breakthrough.

Syria's main opposition leaders on Thursday turned down an invitation from Lavrov for talks in Moscow.

High Negotiations Committee spokesman Riyad Naasan said that HNC coordinator Riyad Hijab had "received a personal invitation" to attend Friday's talks "but declined".

But "no invitation has yet been sent to the High Negotiations Committee", he added.

The HNC is the main Syrian opposition umbrella group and has taken part in peace talks brokered by Syria regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana, this week.

The Turkey-based opposition National Coalition also declined to meet with Lavrov, said spokesman Ahmad Ramadan.

He said invitations were sent to the current and past heads of the National Coalition and to the deputy of the sitting chief.
 [i24news.tv]
27/1/17
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