25-04-2024 06:29 PM Jerusalem Timing

Syria Opposition Factions Agree to Attend Geneva Peace Talks

Syria Opposition Factions Agree to Attend Geneva Peace Talks

Syria’s opposition on Monday agreed to attend a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks set for this week in Geneva after a landmark ceasefire led to a dramatic drop in fighting.

Syria's opposition on Monday agreed to attend a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks set for this week in Geneva after a landmark ceasefire led to a dramatic drop in fighting.

The truce between the Syrian national military and armed groups, brokered by Russia and the United States, has defied expectations and led to the first significant decline in violence in nearly five-year global war on Syria.

The United Nations is hoping it can now restart talks on a political transition that collapsed last month in Geneva.

The opposition, represented by the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, had held off on committing to the talks but on Monday said the 10-day-old "cessation of hostilities" was making a difference.

"After consultations, the High Negotiations Committee agreed to go to Geneva. The delegation is expected to arrive on Friday," Riad Naasan Agha, a spokesman for the group, told media outlets.

"We have noticed a sharp decline in ceasefire violations in recent days and progress in the humanitarian file," particularly with regards to aid deliveries to besieged towns, Agha said.

A spokesman for the UN's World Food Program told Agence France Presse an aid convoy was heading Monday to a key rebel bastion east of Damascus.

Houssam al-Saleh said 22 trucks would distribute food, flour and medical supplies to the towns of Hammuriya, Jisreen, and Beit Sawa in Eastern Ghouta.

It would be the third aid delivery since the truce came into effect on February 27.