The Syrian opposition is not optimistic about upcoming peace talks in Geneva because there is no international will for a political transition, opposition member Riad Hijab told Al Araby Al Jadid television late on Friday.
The Syrian opposition has consistently said that it wants a halt in attacks on civilians and for the Geneva talks to result in a transitional governing body for Syria that does not include President Bashar al-Assad.
“There is no international will, especially from the U.S. side, and I do not expect anything to come of the negotiations,” said Hijab, the coordinator for the Saudi-backed Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC), the main opposition bloc.
The HNC will attend the next round of talks, scheduled to start around April 9 in Geneva, Hijab said, but “I will be clear to our people: we have no optimism concerning the negotiations process.”
Russia and the United States disagree on Assad’s future but have jointly pressed the Syrian government and the opposition to attend the indirect peace talks in Geneva, which are being mediated by a United Nations envoy.
“We are not afraid of the U.S.-Russian rapprochement,” Hijab said. “But we fear the secrecy, the lack of clarity and lack of transparency.
“We do not know what has been agreed … what is happening in Syria is a proxy war.”
A fragile “cessation of hostilities” truce has held in Syria for over a month between government forces and their opponents.

Source: Reuters, April 2