| CNN International | - |
(CNN) -- A first round of Syrian peace talks didn't go too well, and now the government delegation won't commit to a second round.
Syrian government non-committal on more talks
updated 2:10 PM EST, Fri January 31, 2014
Satellite photos show Syrian devastation
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Secretary Kerry says Syria is failing to comply with chemical weapons deal
- U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi calls peace talks a "modest beginning"
- Negotiations on halting Syria's civil war are supposed to resume Feb. 10
- Meanwhile, Syria has failed to hand over known chemical weapons on time
Meanwhile, Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's regime has failed to turn over its known
chemical weapons stockpiles on time, causing U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry to warn on Friday that all options remain available to force
compliance.
The dual developments
showed the challenges facing efforts by the international community to
halt the Syrian civil war through talks intended to set up a
transitional government, and rid Syria of its chemical weapons that
already have been used in the conflict.
President Barack Obama
threatened a military response last year when U.S. authorities
determined the al-Assad regime attacked its own people with chemical
weapons. However, Obama failed to secure backing from Congress or key
ally Great Britain.
Brahimi: What's the vision for Syria?
Playing for time with human lives
Instead, Syrian ally
Russia stepped in to persuade al-Assad to hand over the chemical weapons
stockpiles to the international community in order to be destroyed.
That process started on
schedule, but the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
that is overseeing Syria's handover of its stockpiles said Friday that
Syrian officials need to speed things up.
"While the two shipments
(of chemicals) this month represent a start, the need for the process to
pick up pace is obvious," Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said.
Kerry to Syria: all options on the table
In Germany, Kerry said
al-Assad "needs to understand that he agreed to an international U.N.
Security Council Resolution which has reinforced a requirement that he
remove all of those weapons and that he do so in a specific period of
time."
"Every indication we
have is there is no legitimate reason that that is not happening now,"
Kerry said, noting that an international military response remained a
possibility. "And therefore, we call on Bashar al-Assad to live up to
his obligations or we will join together with our friends and talk about
which, if any, of the options we deem necessary at this point to
proceed forward."
In Geneva, the initial
talks involving al-Assad's government and the Syrian opposition came to a
quiet close on Friday, a week after they started with much fanfare.
"This is a modest beginning, but it is a beginning on which we can build," U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters.
He said the peace talks
were scheduled to resume in Geneva on February 10. While the opposition
has agreed to the date, the Syrian government delegation said it must
first consult with Damascus, according to Brahimi.
Noting that "the gaps
between the two sides remain wide; there's no use pretending otherwise,"
he said that "nevertheless, during our discussions I observed a little
bit of common ground -- perhaps more than the two sides themselves
realize or recognize."
The more than two years
of fighting have embittered both sides to the point that reconciliation
seems unreachable, particularly involving the opposition demand --
backed by the United States -- that al-Assad can't be part of any future
transitional leadership.
"We felt like we were
drinking from a poisoned chalice while the criminal was killing our
women, children, young men and women, and elderly," said a statement
released Friday by Syrian National Coalition leader Ahmad Jarba after
the close of the first round of talks. "The only consolation that we had
was that the regime which had been oppressing us for more than 50 years
had arrived in Geneva to dig its own grave with its own hands."
Brahimi focuses on tiny steps forward
Emphasizing the
positive, Brahimi said that over the past eight days, the two sides at
least became used to being in the same room, and that moments occurred
when one side acknowledged the concerns of the other.
Both sides understand
that Syria's civil war has caused immense suffering, recognize the
urgent need to bring the violence to an end and are committed to
discussing the full implementation of the so-called Geneva I communique
to achieve a political solution, he said.
They also understand the
need to rapidly address the humanitarian situation in Syria, wherever
that need exists in the country, Brahimi added. However, he acknowledged
no breakthrough so far on delivering aid to the besieged city of Homs.
"Some good news came
yesterday with the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Yarmouk
camp for Palestinian refugees," he said. "But so much more is needed."
Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid Moallem said the government was still "hopeful" and wanted to
engage in dialogue, but that the differences between the two sides had
been very apparent.
"They are not in touch
at all with what is happening on the ground in Syria," he said, adding
that Syria rejects outside interference in its affairs.
Opposition spokesman Louay Saif said just starting the talks with the government represented progress in the fight.
"We believe the only way
to stop violence and to ... end the work of any group that is part of a
terrorist agenda is to start the transition," he said.
A call for constructive engagement
The U.S. State
Department was critical of the Syrian government's delay in confirming
the date for the start of the next round of talks.
"The opposition has once
again shown a seriousness of purpose in these negotiations by quickly
committing to participate in the next round of talks, while the regime
continues to play games," said Edgar Vasquez, a State Department
spokesman.
Heading to a security conference in Munich, Kerry described the Syrian conflict as a destabilizing factor in the region.
The Munich Security
Conference also will be attended by Brahimi, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Syrian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif -- all major players in the Syrian
situation.
The Geneva I communique
of June 2012 called for a transitional government and for al-Assad to
step down. The government has said that is not an option.
More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict, which has forced more than 2 million people to become refugees.
Opposition groups have
long called on the Syrian government to halt its relentless attacks on
rebel-controlled areas. The government argues that it is fighting
terrorism backed by outside parties.
The conflict has also
been mired by accusations that the Damascus government used chemical
weapons and that the opposition includes al Qaeda-affiliated groups.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz and Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
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