Syria’s peace talks in limbo as opposition stays away

The United Nations has said that the internationally backed negotiations will go ahead as scheduled on Friday, dpa International reported.

The Higher Negotiations Committee said it would not go to Geneva and would hold further internal discussions Friday in the capital Riyadh to make a final decision on participating in the UN-sponsored talks, Qantara.de reported.

Key members of the opposition have been indicating their participation may hinge on the Assad regime stopping airstrikes and lifting its siege on towns inside Syria.

The head of the committee, Riyad Hijab, said that the panel’s members "do not see prospects for these negotiations."

"We are not going to the negotiations because the discussed agenda is not accepted by us. We had earlier said that we do not want any role for Assad in the future Syria," Hijab told Dubai-based television Al Arabiya late Thursday.

World powers hope that the Geneva negotiations will initiate a political process to resolve Syria’s conflict that started as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and is estimated to have cost the lives of more than 250,000 people.