UN-mediated peace talks aimed at ending Syria’s conflict are scheduled to kick off Friday amid a deep conflict between Turkey and Saudi Arabia on lining up the opposition delegation.
UN-mediated peace talks aimed at ending Syria's conflict are scheduled to kick off Friday amid a deep conflict between Turkey and Saudi Arabia on lining up the opposition delegation, which delayed the decision-making of the conferees in Riyadh on whether to participate in Geneva talks or not.
The so-called 'Opposition of Riyadh' knows very well that refusing to participate in UN talks will cost it dearly, including the end of US support. This implies another Saudi failure in Syria following the recent defeats of the armed groups supported by Gulf states on ground.
Sources following up the discussions said that the above mentioned disagreements have also affected the armed groups, where clashes erupted between the Turkey-backed Ahrar Al-Sham group and Gulf States-backed Al-Nusra Front.
Conflict between terrorist groups is also portrayed in the assassination attempts attributed to "unidentified assailants", most notably was the murder of Abu Rateb Al-Homsi, top leader of Ahrar Al-Sham, known for his ties with the Gulf armed mercenaries mainly operating in Syria.
Recently, Saudi Arabia managed to weaken Ahrar Al-Sham and to replace it with the so-called 'Jaish al-Islam', in spite of the repeated attempts of the former to show political friendliness towards the west countries through articles written by Labib Al-Nahhas, one of the group's officials.
Sources said that marginalizing Ahrar Al-Sham can be considered as if it is being targeted by Persian Gulf Arab states, Saudi Arabia in particular to control the armed groups on ground and to turn them against the Turkey's campus during the Geneva talks.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, in a video message to the Syrian people on Thursday, said the talks could be their country's last chance for peace after a global war on the Syria has seen more than 260,000 people killed and forced millions out of their homes.
