Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar said that the US is “seriously thinking about opening channels with Damascus” following his meeting with UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus on Tuesday.

Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar said that the US is “seriously thinking about opening channels with Damascus” following his meeting with UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus on Tuesday.
 
Haidar, however, added that “it is too early to talk about that, especially since the US has not ceased supporting the opposition politically and in the media," Russia Today quoted him as saying in a press conference.
 
Haidar’s comments came the same day Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sacked Deputy Premier Qadri Jameel for conducting unauthorized meetings abroad, an implicit reference to Jameel’s meeting with US point man for Syria Robert Ford on Saturday to discuss proposed Geneva peace talks.

The Syrian Minister rejected Brahimi's suggestion to unite the Syrian opposition's representatives in Geneva II because the internal opposing factions have radical differences with the coalition which has set preconditions to attend the conference.