DAMASCUS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian opposition party agreed on Saturday to attend the Russia-mediated preliminary and consultative conference to settle the Syrian crisis.
The meeting, to be held at the end of this month, aims to help the Syrian government and opposition parties restore political talks to end the long-running conflict.
However, Hassan Abdul-Azim, chief of the National Coordination Body (NCB), noted that Moscow has so far only issued invitation letters to some members of his party, while the NCB has not been officially invited as a political party to the meeting.
The leftist opposition figure said his group is "working to seize any opportunity ... that could help in curbing the bloodletting, destruction and displacement in Syria."
He stressed that the NCB does not advocate military solutions to the crisis, adding that they are going to build trust in the meetings.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed recently that the preparations for the Syrian crisis conference in the Russian capital are well underway.
Lavrov said Russia has not received any rejection from the invited opposition groups.
However, the Building Syria State party, another Syria-based opposition group, told Xinhua that it is not going to take part in the Moscow meetings.
Anas Joudeh, deputy head of the party, said his group refused to go to Moscow because the meetings have no "clear title and agenda."
He also slammed the forms of the invitations, saying that the parties are being invited as independent figures, not as parties.
The nature of the invitations "undermines the representations of the opposition forces in Syria," he added.
The Syrian government announced last month its approval to attend the meetings, saying it has confidence in Russia's efforts to solve the crisis in Syria politically, according to a foreign ministry statement.
BEIRUT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Political solution to the Syrian crisis should highlight national reconciliation and the rights of the Syrian people, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) chief said here on Saturday.
Martin Chungong, IPU secretary general, made the remarks after meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Full story
GENEVA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on Thursday expressed his concerns over the devastating situation in Syria and stressed the importance of "freezing" battles in part of the war-torn country.
As the Syrian conflict enters into its fourth year, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria, addressed a press conference to shed light on the continuing torment borne by Syrian people, noting that 12 million Syrian people were in need of humanitarian assistance, 7.6 million have been displaced, and the number of Syrian refugees hit 3.2 million. Full story
DAMASCUS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian authorities and the rebels entrenched in a district in the central province of Homs concluded a long-awaited truce on Wednesday, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.
The truce in al-Waer neighborhood, the last rebel-held district inside the city of Homs, aims at achieving a reconciliation and paving the way for the departure of the armed elements from the neighborhood, according to the TV. Full story
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