Kazakhstan expects Syrian armed opposition to return to talks on Thursday
Participants of Syria peace talks attend a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Mukhtor Kholdorbekov
(Reuters) Kazakhstan, which hosts peace talks on the Syrian crisis, expects the Syrian armed opposition to return to the table on Thursday, a Kazakh Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday.
“I hope that tomorrow the opposition will again take part (in the talks),” Aidarbek Tumatov, a department chief at the ministry, told reporters in the Kazakh capital.
The Syrian armed opposition said on Wednesday it had suspended its participation in the talks on settling the Syrian crisis being held in the Kazakh capital Astana, demanding an end to government bombardment of the areas under its control.
“The delegation has suspended its participation after presenting a memorandum for a total commitment to stopping (government) bombardments,” said political opposition SNC spokesman Ahmad Ramadan.