Preparing (and Posturing) for Peace Talks. One of the outcomes of last week’s diplomacy marathon was a long-hoped-for revival of Geneva II, a second round of peace talks to end Syria’s war. A meeting is set for mid-November, both the regime and the U.S.-backed opposition have agreed in principle to attend. In theory, negotiations would advance an existing peace plan charting a political transition in Syria, devised at the first round of peace talks in June 2012.
But there are already complications ahead of November’s meet. The government of President Bashar al-Assad said it’s ready for dialogue, but not ready to handover power (which aligns with what analysts tell us: in short, don’t expect the Assad regime to negotiate its own end). In contrast, Ahmed al-Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition, says the aim of Geneva II must be a transitional government with full power. Undercutting al -Jarba, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said the Assad regime won’t even deal with his Syrian National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people, saying it has squandered its credibility and has “no representation in Syria.” In an interview with Al Monitor, he insisted that Assad remains “the legal representative of Syria until elections in 2014.”
Meanwhile, al-Jarba is facing a kind of political mutiny on the ground. Last week Islamists rebels rejected the Syrian National Coalition, saying they do not accept its authority. Instead they want to see an “Islamic Framework,” making religious law the basis for the future of Syria.
The collective mess gives you a taste of what the world is up against, in trying to broker a lasting peace across multiple warring sides.
Chemical Weapons Inspectors Put U.N. Deal to Work. Today, a 20-person team of engineers and specialists will travel from the Netherlands to Syria, for what the Guardian called “the most hazardous mission in the history of disarmament.” That report outlines how the team will work in protective suits and armor, in intense heat, in the middle of a civil war. Inspectors will start by focusing on chemical-weapons production facilities, eventually fanning out to an estimated 25 locations, as they look to destroy the entire chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
So far the Syrian government has been “businesslike and efficient” in its cooperation, reports the Washington Post, citing an official from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The OPCW is overseeing Syria’s chemical disarmament.
Now, About Those Suffering People. The UN Security Council is considering ways to boost humanitarian aid to Syria, in part by urging the Assad regime to allow cross-border aid deliveries, Reuters reports. The issue of cross-border aid has come up repeatedly, as life in rebel-held areas has grown desperate (we’ve reported on people eating leaves off trees out of abject hunger). Official aid convoys have a dangerous time trying to reach rebel-areas, while some aid groups accuse the Assad government of deliberately blocking deliveries to make life in rebel territory as miserable as possible.
According to the Reuters report, the proposed Security Council text urges the Syrian government to facilitate “safe and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need through the most effective ways, including across conflict lines and, where appropriate, across borders from neighboring countries,” fulfilling the long-held wish list of U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos (see her speak on the human catastrophe in Syria). One diplomat said the resolution was “ambitious.”
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:
Reuters: At Least 16 Dead in Air Strike on School
AFP: People Smugglers Playing on Syria Misery
BBC: The Victims of a Napalm-Like Bombing
Al Jazeera: Rebels Capture Border Post Near Jordan
AP: Mortar Shells Hit Damascus, Near Chinese Embassy
Guardian/Opinion: The Gulf’s Syria Strategy Has Backfired
NY Observer: Wary of Staff in Harm’s Way, Editors Leave Syria Coverage to Stringers
The Independent: French Were “Hours” From Military Strikes Before Obama Call