Syrian Armed Opposition Confirms Refusal to Take Part in Astana Talks

The delegation of the Syrian armed opposition confirmed on Monday its refusal to take part in negotiations on Syrian reconciliation that will be held in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana later this week, the opposition's delegation representative Osama Abu Zeid told Sputnik.

DUBAI (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, Ahmed Berri, the Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Sputnik that the Syrian armed opposition will make a decision on whether to participate in or to boycott the Astana talks on Syria in the coming hours.

Abu Zeid said that the remarks of Ahmed Berri, the chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), that there would be a meeting of the Syrian opposition where the armed opposition’s participation in the Astana negotiations would be discussed were misunderstood.

"I, an official representative, on behalf of the delegation [of the Syrian armed opposition] say that we will not participate [in the Astana talks]," Abu Zeid said.

The first round of Astana talks on Syria brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran were held on January 23-24 and resulted in a Moscow-Tehran-Ankara agreement on the establishment of a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Syria.

The second round of the Astana talks took place on February 15-16, with the participants agreeing to set up a ceasefire monitoring group, encompassing Iran, Russia and Turkey, that would report to the United Nations.

The third round of intra-Syrian talks in Astana will take place on March 14-15, with the consultations to be held on the first day and the plenary session to take place on Wednesday.