Syria Talks End Early Over Regime Change ‘Impasse’

Govt Spurns US Demands Assad Not Be Involved in Future

The Syrian government and the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) continue talks in Montreaux, but the question of regime change, which was pushed heavily by the SNC, seems to have stalled what little momentum the process had.

The SNC is demanding that the government sign off on US demands for a “transitional government” which doesn’t include President Bashar Assad before getting into any other details.

The Syrian government, by contrast, is saying that they believe the talks should begin without preconditions, and that international demands should not be driving the process.

Today’s talks ended early at the insistence of UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who said the tone was getting too confrontational for his taste. At the same time, UN officials say there is considerable interest in continuing the talks, though no obvious path of progress seems to exist on the matter.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.