Al-Moallem: Syrian Government Insists on Knowing Names of Opposition Negotiators before Going to Geneva Talks
NEW DELHI, (ST)-The Syrian government insists on knowing the names of members of the opposition delegation it will have dialogue with in Geneva before going there to take part in the scheduled negotiations late this month, Deputy premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid al-Moallem underscored yesterday.
In a statement to SANA correspondent in India, al-Moallem said “we have stressed our readiness to attend Geneva meetings for Syrian-Syrian dialogue and the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura seemed satisfied with the results of his visit to Damascus.”
“We need to know the names of the opposition negotiators, because our delegation won’t go to Geneva to have dialogue with ghosts,” al-Moallem added.
The foreign minister pointed out that during his meetings in India he heard support statements from the Indian side for the Syrian stance, government and President Bashar al-Assad. He affirmed that India can play an effective role in combating terrorism and in the process of attaining political solution to the crisis in Syria.
He noted that he was happy with the results of the constructive talks he had with the Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj as the two sides decided to enhance bilateral relations in all domains, particularly oil, gas, electricity, industry and agriculture.
He said India had suffered takfiri terrorism and it feels worried about the spread of this plague in the world, pointing out that Swaraj has expressed support for Syria’s efforts to combat terrorism and for the political track of attaining peaceful settlement in Syria.
Hamda Mustafa