Kerry, Brahimi Pushing Peace Talks, Hoping Opposition Will Sign On. Ahead of peace talks in Geneva, reportedly slated for November 23, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is back in Europe for talks with U.S. allies, while U.N.-Arab League Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi visits Iraq, then eyes a swing through Iran, Turkey and Qatar.
The diplomatic tour is aimed at convincing the rebels and the regime – as well as the round of players that back each side – to invest in the success of Geneva II. For the U.S., that would mean taking steps toward a transitional government in Syria, a new ruling establishment beyond President Bashar al-Assad. Some analysts say that’s unlikely to happen – the ruling regime won’t negotiate the end of its own power.
On top of that, there are complications on the rebel side – a fractious coalition of voices, led by political representatives in exile who don’t have overwhelming support on the ground.
“Many rebels on the ground flatly refuse to negotiate with the regime. The government, meanwhile, has refused to talk to the armed opposition,” reports the Guardian.
“The main Western-backed umbrella opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, is due to meet on 1 November to decide whether to attend the proposed Geneva conference. One of the most prominent factions in the coalition, the Syrian National Council, has said it has no faith in such talks and won’t attend.”
Fears of a Polio Outbreak in Syria. Syria could be facing a new health crisis, in the return of polio. The BBC reports that medical experts are concerned that the virus has made its first return to the country in 14 years.
“Syria’s Ministry of Public Health is launching an urgent response, but experts fear the disease will be hard to control amid civil unrest,” according to the report. “Immunization is almost impossible to carry out in regions under intense shellfire. As a result, vaccination rates have been waning – from 95 percent in 2010 to an estimated 45 percent in 2013.”
Dozens Killed in Suicide Bombing in Hama. In the latest in a string of suicide bombings, 43 people died after a bomber blew up an explosives-laden truck at a busy army checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Hama.
Syrian state media confirmed the blast, saying that the man blew himself up inside the vehicle on Sunday on a busy road on the outskirts of the government-held city. State news agency SANA blamed the attack on “terrorists,” the term it uses to describe rebel forces trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian Folk Singer Transcends Borders. The BBC’s Anna Bressanin used the network’s Monday First Person profile to tell the story of Omar Souleyman, whose folk music has transcended the Middle East and become popular as far as the U.S.
“Born in a village in the north of Syria, Souleyman originally sang at weddings in the style known as dabke. Now an American label is releasing his work – a fast, electronic version of dabke, sung in Arabic and Kurdish – and Souleyman is going on tour.”
You can see the video here.
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