Al-Jaafari: It is Important to Prepare Well for Indirect Intra-Syrian Dialogue in Geneva

GENEVA, (ST)-It is important to prepare very well for the indirect Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva as to avoid the problems that appeared in the first round of talks, Head of the Syrian Arab Republic’s delegation to the Syrian-Syrian dialogue Bashar al-Jaafari stressed in a press conference Sunday evening.

 He said he had a good meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in which he stressed that the UN mediator should take honesty, objectivity and neutrality into consideration and should try to create an environment of confidence and credibility between the participating delegations.

 “Until now, we don’t know which delegations we are supposed to talk to through the UN envoy,” al-Jaafari said.

Concerning remarks made by the opposition delegations, particularly on the issues of “transitional government” and “the role of President Bashar Al-Assad,” al-Jaafari said “We are still preparing for the second round of talks…Talking about core issues dealing with one of the symbols of sovereignty in Syria is against [good negotiation manners] and an attempt to foil the second round of talks and the efforts of the UN envoy.

On the role of the reconciliations being carried out in Hmeimem airbase in the current talks, al-Jaafari said “they are being done in coordination with the Syrian government which is a full partner in this process that is done on the Syrian lands through our Russian friends.”

“Setting preconditions for the talks will contradict the principles on which we depend to come here…The meeting, which is being held under the auspices of the international mediator, is  Syrian-Syrian par excellence and is done without any foreign intervention or preconditions.

“Preconditions are categorically rejected, we are here for a Syrian-Syrian dialogue to reach points of agreement,” al-Jaafari said.

Al-Jaafari: Session with de Mistura was positive and constructive

 According to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), head of the Syrian Arab Republic’s delegation to the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva Bashar al-Jaafari affirmed that the session held on Monday with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was positive and constructive.

In a statement to journalists following the meeting with de Mistura, al-Jaafari said “we discussed in this session the importance and need for good preparation in terms of form, which would allow us to begin on solid basis in order to discuss the substance and essence.”

He noted that there was a mutual agreement between the Syrian Arab Republic delegation and the Special Envoy regarding the importance of the aspect of good preparation and finalizing the vision regarding agreement over the framework of dialogue in terms of form, because in diplomatic work, form controls the success of the essential aspect to a large degree.

Al-Jaafari went on to explain that the form aspect he refers to covers issues such as who are the delegations that came to Geneva, circumventing the gaps that were present in the first round of talks, who is on the list of names of participants, and treating all delegations equally.

“The dialogue was positive and constructive. We as the Syrian Arab Republic delegation upheld our responsibility in helping to prepare well for the stage of transitioning from form to substance, as we presented ideas and opinions titled ‘essential elements for the political resolution’ which should enrich de Misutra’s diplomatic efforts when he meets the other delegations,” he explained,

“We will move now to the stage of preparing well for the second meeting with de Mistura which will take place on Wednesday,” al-Jaafari added, noting that de Mistura said that the form of dialogue he intends to carry out will be in the form of a meeting with the Syrian Arab Republic delegation on one day and meetings with other delegations on the next day.

Al-Jaafari said he hopes that all the other delegations are present in Geneva as per UN resolution no.2254, the Vienna statements, and the Munich declaration, all of which talked about the need for the widest spectrum of Syrian opposition to be represented in dialogue.

“We want to hold dialogue as Syrians and under Syrian leadership without any foreign interference and without any preconditions,” he asserted, adding that any deviation from these principles will surely mean that there are those who seek to detail this round of talks as they did in the previous round.

“We are motivated by our sense of responsibility toward our people and homeland, and this responsibility is one of the forms of strength granted to us by the Syrian people to represent them in this round of Syrian-Syrian dialogue,” al-Jaafari concluded.

Hamda Mustafa