New round of intra-Syrian consultations begins in Moscow

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The second round of intra-Syrian consultations has begun at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s mansion, a TASS correspondent reports from the site.

Like before, the exchange of opinion will be held behind closed doors. Several dozen invitations have been sent to a news conference due to follow shortly afterwards. In contrast to the Moscow-1 round held on January 26-29 the current round is proceeding according to a previously agreed agenda.

The January 26-29 talks produced the "Moscow Principles," such as Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, resistance to terrorism and impermissibility of external intervention. On the eve of the April round these items were mentioned ever more frequently at statements by Damascus, including those at the highest level.

"Throughout the Syrian crisis a number of Western countries were doing their utmost for unleashing a war in Syria and in the region in general," Syria’s President Bashar Assad told TASS earlier in an interview. "Sometimes this is done on the pretext of struggle against terrorism, and sometimes on the pretext of supporting peoples who have ostensibly risen in revolt for freedom, and also on some other false excuses, being replicated by Western mass media."

The Syrian leader emphasized the need for current consultations. Assad pointed out that the dialogue should remain intra-Syrian and immune to external influences on its participants.

As the head of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation Qadri Jamil said, at the Moscow talks the front would raise the theme of the Opposition’s representation in the "Geneva format."

For his part, the deputy chairman of the National Coordination Committee, Aref Dalila, called for an early return to the Geneva talks.

"We are demanding a return to the Geneva negotiations in order to identify a political solution of the crisis," he said. "The forces that interfered in the Syrian Affairs were interested in continuing the war," Dalila said. At the moment it is most important to stop the war and destruction. Everybody should do everything necessary for this.

The current round of consultations will last till April 9.