No headway amid emergence of some positive omens

The much-awaited peace talks on the complex Syrian tangle ended in Geneva without making any headway. But what has emerged as a positive development from the discussions is the need for continuing the parleys. Both the government and rebel sides sought to put up their respective brave face following the week-long talks with both sticking to their respective positions. But the UN peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahmi, said the inconclusive discussions are expected to be resumed on February 10.
The delegation of president Bashar al-Assad regime ruled out any major concessions to the rebels in the talks in the future; the other side boasted that it was their victory that the regime had been forced to come to the negotiating table.  These two positions are vastly different.
The second round of Geneva talks has taken place after painstaking efforts. This is the achievement of the UN-brokered meeting, supported by two world powers - the US and Russia.
The warring sides of the Syrian conflict finally met in Geneva after the United Nations peace envoy averted a collapse of the crucial talks when a serious uncertainty, at the initial stage, had prevailed over their taking place at all. They refused to meet in the same room and preferred to talk through mediators as the rebels were more hostile in approach towards holding direct talks with the those on the side of the Damascus regime. The rebels wanted a commitment from the powers who are mediating the peace talks that president Assad would agree to a transitional government in Syria and step down to facilitate the process of reconciliation.
Not surprisingly, the regime considered such an attitude unacceptable. A deadlock, thus, persisted over the start of the crucial talks. Fortunately, the perilous situation was salvaged, thanks to the efforts of UN peace envoy Lakdhar Brahmi, who made some ardous efforts in convincing both the sides for adopting a conciliatory approach in the larger interests of all concerned.
The Syrian civil war is now in its third year. But there is yet so sign of its resolution. Meanwhile, it has already taken more than one hundred thousand lives and rendered 1, 5 million people refugees. The rebels fighting the regime of president Assad are hell-bent on the their demand that he quits power. The Damascus government is equally adamant not to give in and instead, it wants the rebels to surrender -- something too much of asking by the regime.
It is in this context of diametrically opposite positions adopted by the two sides, the "Geneva -1" talks took place earlier with no progress achieved in the dialogue. Now the "Geneva-2" talks ended amidst a growing realisation about the need for making a breakthrough in the conflict -- a situation that is becoming increasing bloody and causing allround destruction.
 Major global powers, taking sides with the warring parties in Syria, are involved in the peace talks; the United States which is supporting the rebels and Russia which is most ardent backer of the Assad regime, are playing the lead-roles in the process of mediation in the talks. The United Nations is the catalyst in the effort.
 Russia and the US reached a landmark accord on the elimination of the chemical weapons of Syria a few months ago. Just before that, an American military assault on Syria looked inevitable. Washington felt that the Assad regime must be "punished" for alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict - an allegation the regime denied.
Despite huge differences on the reasons of the civil war, the US and Russia, two main foreign powers involved in the peace talks, are sparing no efforts to convene the discussions between the regime and rebels in order to settle the crisis.
As the "Geneva-2" international peace conference on Syria ended, the government of Assad looked itself confident about remaining firm in the saddle. It said it took part in the talks for the reason that it wanted peace. Its Information Minister, Omran al-Zohbi, said that no major concessions would be given to the rebels in the talks. The Damascus government, he noted, made no concession to Israel during the last 25 years and also nothing of the sort to several other nations like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan in the recent times.
However, the rebel opposition spokesman, Luoya Shafi, struck a discordant note, saying the regime was forced to parleys because national and international conditions are against it.
In any case, that the talks that are taking place is a forward movement. This needs to be maintained for the greater interest of not only Syria, but also for global stability and tranquility. It is possible that the differences would narrow down when the discussions continue.
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