Mohammed Sabra to Be Syrian Opposition Delegation's Chief Negotiator in Geneva

Syrian lawyer Mohammed Sabra was named as the chief negotiator of the Syrian opposition delegation for the forthcoming Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said in a statement obtained by Sputnik on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, the HNC announced the final composition of the delegation to take part in the UN-backed negotiations in Geneva on February 20, which included representatives of both moderate and armed opposition groups.

In the list of delegation members, Sabra, who chairs the Syrian Republican Party that was established in Turkey's Istanbul in 2014, was mentioned as an independent candidate.

As the delegation's chief negotiator, Sabra will replace Mohammed Alloush from the Jaysh al-Islam group, who announced the decision to leave his post in May 2016 citing the failure of the previous round of Geneva talks.

According to the statement, Naser Hariri, a representative of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces would head the delegation.

The international community, including the United Nations, has repeatedly made attempts to settle the Syrian civil war by diplomatic means. Within the framework of these efforts several rounds of talks in Geneva took place, with the most recent one on April 13-27, 2016.