GENEVA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN-Arab League joint special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to meet diplomats Tuesday to pave the way toward setting a date for the peace talks on Syria, known as the Geneva II conference, in November.
U.S. White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed on Monday that Brahimi is scheduled to have a trilateral meeting with U.S. and Russian diplomats on Tuesday.
No date has so far been set for the Geneva II conference, as the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) is divided on whether to attend. The coalition disagrees over conditions on their attendance, including demands that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should step down and not take part in a negotiated solution for the country's future.
SNC's President Ahmad Jarba also said that his group would not attend the conference if Iran is invited.
The UN has led an international endeavor to seek a political solution to the Syrian crisis, making it clear that it should be a result of the Syrian-led political process.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will convene the peace conference, has previously said his aim is to hold the meeting in November.
The Arab League (AL) on Sunday called on the Syrian opposition to attend the Geneva II conference and form their delegation as soon as possible.
AL supports the opposition's stance of asking for international guarantees for participating in the conference, the League said. AL chief Nabil Al-Arabi said at the foreign ministers' meeting that bloodshed in Syria could no longer be tolerated.
The United States, Russia and China support the talks as a way of bringing all sides together to discuss a political solution to the conflict.
The United States is committed to holding the Geneva II conference in November, the White House said on Monday.
"We need to press on Geneva as a way to resolve this bloodshed in Syria because otherwise the alternative is so dire indeed for the Syrian people and for the region," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf also expressed hope that the Geneva meeting could be held in November. She told reporters that Washington is "focused on getting the right representatives to the table."
China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi, on Monday called on all parties concerned to make greater efforts to bring about an international peace conference on Syria at an early date.
A political solution is "the only viable way out of Syria's problems," Liu said.
"First and foremost it is highly important to persuade the relevant parties to sit down at the negotiation table for the Geneva II conference to be held as early as possible," said the envoy, whose country assumed the rotating Security Council presidency for November on Friday.
An early peace conference would be in the fundamental interest of the Syrian people and the region and "give us the best way forward," he added.
"China certainly will continue to work with the various sides so that they will move forward with this political process," Liu said.
The Geneva II conference is expected to bring about a comprehensive agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition on full implementation of the Geneva Communique, adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on June 30, 2012.
The communique lays out key steps of a process to end the violence, and calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body -- with full executive powers and made up by members of the present government and the opposition and other groups -- as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stressed Monday his government's commitment to attend the Geneva II conference on Syria, noting, however, that the conference must be well-prepared.
"We have stressed that we were going to attend the Geneva II conference whether it is going to be held tomorrow, the day after, or within a week or even a month or more, this is our steady stance," Mekdad told a press conference. Full story
CAIRO, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) foreign ministers meeting here Sunday called on Syrian opposition to attend the Geneva II conference and form their delegation as soon as possible.
The ministers said the AL supports Syrian opposition's stance of asking for necessary international guarantees for participating in the Geneva II conference. Full story
BEIRUT, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour received on Sunday an invitation to a preparatory meeting for the Geneva II conference and confirmed that Lebanon is prepared to join the talks.
According to the official National News Agency, Mansour, who is participating in a meeting for Arabs Foreign Affairs Ministers in Cairo, will attend the preparatory meeting together with Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations in Geneva, Najla Riachi Assaker. Full story
DAMASCUS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stressed Monday his government's commitment to attend the Geneva II conference on Syria, noting, however, that the conference must be well-prepared.
"We have stressed that we were going to attend the Geneva II conference whether it is going to be held tomorrow, the day after, or within a week or even a month or more, this is our steady stance," Mekdad told a press conference. Full story
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