UN envoy for Syria meets with High Negotiations Committee in Geneva

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Monday 01 Feb 2016 - 10:51 Makkah mean time-22-4-1437 UN envoy de Mistura (UN Photo) Geneva (IINA) – UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has met here with the delegation of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) following their arrival on Saturday night in Geneva, where UN-mediated intra-Syrian talks began Friday after days of delays. According to the envoy's spokesperson, de Mistura held a short meeting with the HNC delegation at their hotel to address issues relating to the intra-Syrian talks.  Separately, UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy met with the delegation of the Syrian regime to discuss practical arrangements related to the next steps in the talks. The Syrian regime delegation, headed by Permanent Representative of Syria to the UN Bashar Jaafari held a preparatory meeting with de Mistura on Friday at the opening of the talks. “The issue is obviously that any type of ceasefire discussions, which is obviously something that we are aiming at, apart from substantive discussions on the future of Syria, need two interlocutors […] that is why for us it is very important to have an indication of where we are on the presence of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC),” said de Mistura responding to reporters' questions about discussions among the opposition about attending the Geneva talks. One of their key concerns, he said, included the desire “to see a gesture from the government authorities regarding some type of improvement for the people in Syria during the talks, for instance release of prisoners, or for instance some lifting of sieges.” The special envoy said the Geneva meetings will start with proximity talks and are expected to last for six months, with government and opposition delegations sitting in separate rooms and UN officials shuttling between them, with the immediate priorities being a broad ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and halting the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). AB/IINA