GENEVA - As Syrian factions gather in Geneva to broker peace for the war-torn country, doubts remain as to whether UN-sponsored intra-Syrian talks will enable Bashar al-Assad's regime and Syria's opposition see eye to eye this time round.
The initial stages of talks, which ultimately aim to discuss governance, constitutional change and the holding of elections while addressing the implementation of a lasting ceasefire and stopping the threat of Islamic State(IS), have indeed been tainted with uncertainty from the outset.
Who to invite and whether or not the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) for opposition groups would actually attend remained ambiguous until the last minute, delaying the start of meetings originally planned for January 25 by four days last week.
Despite this setback, both sides were present in Geneva by January 31, though the HNC's appointed head, Riyad Hijab, was not amongst those who landed in the Swiss city on Sunday.
By the time Hijab's controversial chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush, who is part of the powerful Army of Islam rebel group, arrived in Geneva the following day, both the Syrian regime delegation and the HNC had held closed-door meetings on separate occasions with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, whose role is to mediate between both parties.
Though seen as a positive step, dynamics have taken a downwards turn as sides fail to agree on the execution of priorities which will hopefully kick-start constructive discussions between both factions.
De Mistura had planned to meet both the Syrian government delegation and the HNC on Tuesday, which would have been the first time both sides meet the special envoy on the same day.(Xinhua)