Vienna // Key nations backing Syria’s warring sides met overnight to thrash out differences as Iran prepared to make its debut on Friday at international negotiations on ending the four-year conflict.
Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the four major powers meeting in Vienna, support opposite sides in a war that US secretary of state John Kerry has described as “hell”.
The conflict, which has claimed about a quarter of a million lives, showed no signs of abating as Russia apparently carried out its first strikes in Syria’s south.
It is the second round of talks in less than a week between Russia – a firm supporter of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad – and the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which all back rebel groups.
The gathering came ahead of a wider pivotal meeting of regional players on Friday when Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will join representatives from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon and the European Union. The UAE, Qatar, and Jordan will also attend Friday’s meeting, Britain’s foreign office said.
After Thursday night’s meeting, Mr Kerry met Mr Zarif and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
The inclusion of Iran – another key Al Assad backer – marks a crucial shift. Tehran was excluded from earlier talks, mainly because of opposition from Washington and Riyadh.
Today’s meeting will be the first time the major players in the conflict are in the same room but there has been no mention of either the Syrian government or the opposition joining.
Mr Kerry, who arrived in Vienna early on Thursday, cautioned that this week’s talks would not secure an immediate political solution, but represented the best hope available.
“While finding a way forward on Syria will not be easy – it’s not going to be automatic – it is the most promising opportunity for a political opening we have seen,” Mr Kerry said. “The challenge we face in Syria today is nothing less than to chart a course out of hell.”
Serious divisions remain over when or whether Mr Al Assad should step down – and four-way Russia-US-Saudi-Turkey talks in Vienna last Friday failed to make a breakthrough.
On one side, Russia and Iran are backing Mr Al Assad’s forces on the ground and say Damascus must be helped to defeat terrorism before a political process can take shape.
On the other, the US and its key regional allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia are supporting groups fighting Mr Al Assad and insist he must go.
The dynamic in the Syrian conflict shifted after Russia launched its air campaign on September 30, claiming it was targeting ISIL fighters.
Russia appears to have carried out strikes in southern Syria’s Daraa province for the first time in an expansion of its aerial campaign, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Thursday.
Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Thursday that a “significant increase” of air strikes on Syrian hospitals had killed at least 35 patients and medical staff recently, without specifying who was behind bombings.
More than 250,000 people have died in Syria’s war since it began in March 2011 following a bloody crackdown on protests against Mr Al Assad’s rule.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Aleppo residents saw prices for basic goods soar after an ISIL advance cut the sole route to regime-held areas of Syria’s second city.
The main Aleppo-Damascus motorway has been blocked by rebels since fighting began in mid-2012, but last year government troops opened another route running through the towns of Safireh and Khanasser to government-controlled Hama and Homs.
Last week, an ISIL advance blocked the route south of Khanasser, and on Tuesday ISIL forces also pushed into the outskirts of Safireh.
With the route blocked, the cost of everything from tomatoes to petrol has skyrocketed.
“Within five days it has got to the point of madness,” said Salaheddin, 45, an estate agent from the Saif Al Dawla neighbourhood.
“A kilo of tomatoes today goes for between 900 and 1,000 Syrian pounds (Dh19.50) – seven times more than before,” the father-of-four said.
* Agence France-Presse
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