Syrian foes may discuss prisoner swaps despite talks acrimony

Syria’s government and opposition, meeting for the first time, vented their mutual hostility today but a UN mediator said the enemies may be ready to discuss prisoner swaps, local ceasefires and humanitarian aid.

Russia said the rival sides had promised to start direct talks on Friday despite fears that a stand-off over President Bashar al-Assad's fate would halt the push for a political solution to Syria's civil war, which has killed over 130,000 and made millions homeless.

Even if the sides are willing to discuss limited confidence-building measures, expectations for the peace process remain low, with Islamist rebels and Assad ally Iran absent, and a solution to the three-year war still far off.

Western officials were taken aback by the combative tone of Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem at the first day of the peace conference in Switzerland, fearing follow-up negotiations would never get off the ground due to the acrimony.

But after a day of bitter speeches in the lakeside city of Montreux, international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi signalled that both sides were ready to move beyond rhetoric. "We have had some fairly clear indications that the parties are willing to discuss issues of access to needy people, the liberation of prisoners and local ceasefires," he told a news conference.

Confidence-building measure

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said he had urged Damascus to release detainees as a confidence-building measure and appealed to both sides. "Enough is enough, the time has to come to negotiate," he told reporters.

Russia, which co-sponsored the Montreux meeting with the United States, said the rival Syrian delegations had promised to sit down on Friday for talks which were expected to last about seven days.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov played down the recriminations today, when the opposition called for Dr Assad to hand over power - a demand dismissed by Mr Moualem, who in turn graphically described atrocities by "terrorist" rebels.

“As expected, the sides came up with rather emotional statements, they blamed one another,” Mr Lavrov told reporters. However, he added: “For the first time in three years of the bloody conflict ... the sides - for all their accusations - agreed to sit down at the negotiating table.”

Mr Lavrov, who met Mr Moualem and Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Jarba today, urged Dr Assad's opponents and their foreign backers not to focus exclusively on leadership change.

Today's meeting exposed sharp differences on forcing out Dr Assad, both between the government and opposition, and among the foreign powers which fear that the conflict is spilling beyond Syria and encouraging sectarian militancy abroad.

Mr Jarba accused Dr Assad of Nazi-style war crimes and demanded the Syrian government delegation sign up to an international plan for handing over power. Mr Moualem insisted Dr Assad would not bow to outside demands, denouncing atrocities committed by rebels supported by the Arab and western states whose delegations were sitting in the conference room.

Fragile hope

"Hope exists but it's fragile. We must continue because the solution to this terrible Syrian conflict is political and needs us to continue discussions," said French foreign minister Laurent Fabius. "Obviously when we hear Bashar al-Assad's representative, whose tone is radically different, we know it will be difficult."

Mr Moualem called on foreign powers to stop “supporting terrorism” and to lift sanctions against Damascus.

Referring to rebel acts, he said: “In Syria, the wombs of pregnant women are cut open, the foetuses are killed. Women are raped, dead or alive ... Men are slaughtered in front of their children in the name of the revolution.”

He insisted Dr Assad’s future was not in question, saying: “Nobody in this world has a right to withdraw legitimacy from a president or government ... other than the Syrians themselves.”

US secretary of state John Kerry echoed the rebel view that there is "no way" Dr Assad can stay under the terms of a 2012 international accord urging an interim coalition. But Mr Lavrov said all sides had a role and condemned "one-sided interpretations" of the 2012 pact.

Saudi Arabia, which backs the Sunni rebels, called for Iran and its Shia Lebanese ally Hizbullah to withdraw forces from Syria. Iran, locked in a sectarian confrontation across the region, was absent, shunned by the opposition and the West for rejecting calls for a transitional government.

Mr Kerry acknowledged Tehran could play a role in a solution. “Iran certainly does have an ability to be helpful and make a difference,” he told reporters. “There are plenty of ways that that door can be opened in the next weeks or months, and my hope is they will want to join in a constructive solution.”

The conference has raised no great expectations, particularly among Islamist rebels who have branded western-backed opposition leaders as traitors for even taking part.

Mr Ban opened proceedings by calling for immediate access for humanitarian aid convoys to areas under siege. "Great challenges lie ahead but they are not insurmountable," Mr Ban said, condemning human rights abuses across the board.

But there was little sign of compromise on the central issue of whether Dr Assad, who inherited power from his father 14 years ago, should make way for a government of national unity.

He himself says he could win re-election later this year and his fate has divided Moscow and Washington. Both endorse the conclusions of the 2012 meeting of world powers, known as Geneva 1, but differ on whether it means Dr Assad must go now.

Mr Lavrov repeated Moscow’s opposition to “outside players” interfering in Syria’s sovereign affairs and prejudging the outcome of talks on forming an interim government. He also said Iran - Assad’s main foreign backer - should have a say.

The Kremlin is wary of what it sees as a western appetite for toppling foreign autocrats that was whetted in Libya in 2011. Moscow opposes making Dr Assad's departure a condition for peace. Speaking of the Geneva Communique, Lavrov said: "The essence of this document is that mutual agreement between the government and opposition should decide the future of Syria."

Mr Kerry also spoke of “mutual” agreement among Syrians, but one that excluded Dr Assad. “We see only one option - negotiating a transition government born by mutual consent,” he said. “That means that Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that transition government.”

Despite the differences, however, some participants believe common interests in reining in violence could rally the West, Russia and possibly even Iran behind some form of compromise.

Reuters