In his column on the Russian-sponsored talks in Astana between the Bashar Assad regime and opposition fighters (Jan. 5), Abdulrahman Al-Rashed posed the right questions. “Are the talks aimed at making Turkey and the Syrian opposition sign a surrender, similar to when Saddam Hussein signed the defeat agreement in the Safwan tent after the 1991 Gulf War? Or is it a conference for preliminary arrangements and reconciliation that will pave the way for negotiations?”
The matter, indeed, looks suspicious. The cease-fire will generate no benefit for the opposition because most of the corridors have been closed and they are being targeted by the regime’s allies. These include Iranian and Russian troops, Hezbollah and other sectarian Shiite militias led by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp.
The author is right in stating that Russia and Iran are plotting to lure the Syrian opposition into a slow negotiation process that enables the murderous regime and its allies to move freely, violate the truce wherever they wish, pressure opposition groups and force those groups to accept their conditions.
— Junaid Abdullah, Jeddah
Astana talks
