Syrian Opposition Group Unaware Saudi Prince Arrived to Geneva Peace Talks

Representative of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition group Monzer Makhous told Sputnik on Tuesday that he was not aware of the arrival of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz to Geneva intra-Syrian peace talks.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Bashar Jaafari, the head of the Damascus delegation at the negotiations in Geneva, told Sputnik about the arrival of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to instruct Syrian opposition's Riyadh-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) at the intra-Syrian talks.

"I am not aware," Makhous said.

On Monday, the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) postponed its participation in the latest round of the UN-mediated negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva until progress was achieved in certain areas, including the cessation of hostilities.

The spokesman abstained from commenting on criticism by Bashar Jaafari, the head of the government's delegation against HNC over the decision to halt participation in the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

"I just do not want to comment on it," Makhous told Sputnik.

The Damascus delegation at the intra-Syrian talks plans to stay in Geneva as long as needed and will "respond accordingly" to the attempts of the Riyadh-backed opposition to derail the negotiations, Jaafari told Sputnik on Monday.