How’s the peace conference in Geneva going?
Not well, apparently:
Syria’s government and main political opposition have traded bitter accusations on the first day of a major peace conference in Switzerland.The opposition and US said President Bashar al-Assad had no legitimacy and must step down from power.Syria’s foreign minister had a terse exchange with the UN’s Ban Ki-moon over the length of his speech and said only Syrians could decide Mr Assad’s fate….The summit is discussing the Geneva communique which lays out a political transition plan for Syria.
Wednesday’s initial meeting, involving speeches from 40 or so foreign ministers – has now ended. The direct talks are scheduled to begin in Geneva on Friday.
At a fractious evening news conference, during which there were repeated calls for calm, Mr Ban spoke of the suffering in Syria, saying: “Enough is enough. The time has come to negotiate.”
I don’t see how this works out, since we are asking Assad to negotiate his own exit. If Assad wanted to leave power, he could have done so 100,000 dead Syrians ago.
So long as Iran and Russia back him, and they still do, Assad is staying. The peace conference, much like the chemical weapons deal, just buys Assad more time.
Despite Kerry’s rhetoric — another red line? — the U.S. seems okay with it.
(Featured image source: AFP Video)
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY