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Syrian armed opposition to attend peace talks in Astana

Fourth round of talks due to be held between May 3 and May 4 in Kazakh capital

Ersin Çelik
10:30 - 2/05/2017 Tuesday
Update: 11:44 - 2/05/2017 Tuesday
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Russian President Putin's special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev (L) speaks during the third session of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on March 15, 2017. Besides Turkey and Russia, Iran also agreed to stand a guarantor for the ceasefire.
Russian President Putin's special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev (L) speaks during the third session of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on March 15, 2017. Besides Turkey and Russia, Iran also agreed to stand a guarantor for the ceasefire.

Syria's armed opposition groups have confirmed their attendance at peace talks that are set to resume in the Kazakh capital, Astana, later this week, a Kazakh official said on Tuesday.

Mohamed Alloush will head the opposition delegation in the talks.

The talks, which will focus on the cease-fire that came into effect on Dec. 30, 2016, have been brokered by Turkey -- which backs the opposition -- and Russia and Iran, who support the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anuar Zhainakov confirmed all sides, including the Syrian regime and armed opposition from the northern and southern fronts are expected to attend the fourth round of negotiations.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will also attend the talks, according to Zhainakov.

The talks, which had been previously held in January, February and March, will now be held between May 3 and May 4.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Several rounds of peace talks -- in Geneva and the Kazakh capital Astana -- have so far failed to end the conflict, in which hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians are believed to have been killed to date.




#armed opposition
#Astana peace talks
#Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Anuar Zhainakov
#Kazakhstan
#Syria
7 years ago