EU Recognizes Difficulty to Decide on Common List of Terrorists in Syria

It is difficult for the European Union to agree on an unified list of which groups it considers to be terrorist organizations operating in conflict-torn Syria, a representative from the bloc said Friday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The next round of talks on Syrian reconciliation will be held on Saturday, November 14, in Vienna, during which the participants will focus on agreeing on a list of representatives, from the government in Damascus and the opposition, with whom talks may be held in the future.

"It is not that easy to determine whether something in Syria is a terrorist group or not," the representative told reporters.

The draft terrorist list is based on the groups in the UN roster, which, however, often change their names, he added.

Syria has been in the state of civil war since 2011, when mass anti-government protest against President Bashar Assad and the ruling party escalated into an open armed confrontation between government troops and allied militias on the one hand, and the Syrian opposition on the other.

Since then, Damascus has been fighting moderate rebels and terrorist organizations, including Islamic State and the Nusra Front.