Syria in crossroads as Geneva talks deadlocked

DAMASCUS - As the second round of talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the exiled opposition has scored no progress, hopes for an immediate political breakthrough to Syria's three-year-old conflict have dimmed, leaving Syria stuck in the loop of an ongoing military showdown and probably more international pressures, analysts said.

The second round of the Geneva II conference ended on Saturday without tangible results, and a third round was reportedly agreed upon but its date is still unannounced.

The second round of talks ended as the first one: no results that could bode well for the political process in Syria. The Syrian government wanted to prioritize countering the rampant terrorism in Syria during the talks, while the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the main opposition umbrella in exile, seemed eager for a transitional governing body.

Countering terrorism and the establishment of a transitional government are part of a communique adopted during the first conference in Geneva in 2012. Yet, the order of the items seemed the problematic issue.

The government's delegation said countering terrorism must be thoroughly discussed and should result in some agreements to stem the growing violence in Syria before moving forward to the transitional government's discussion, while the SNC want countering terrorism to ensue the establishment of a transitional government.

Areeb Rantawi, an expert in political studies, said in his latest article that "the problem is that the government delegation wants to start with the terrorism and violence file, without any pledges of any kind, regarding the transitional governing body or the next step of how to stop the violence, whereas the opposition party has no concern out of the frame of transitional governing body as if it was rushing to take out the reins of power and the keys of Damascus."

He said the opposition's high demands are confusing, scoffing: "as if the coalition's legions are at the gates of the presidential palace in Damascus or as if the Western support gives the coalition a political or field superiority."

Rantawi said the SNC's betting on the West is likely to fail, saying their attitude "hasn't been witnessed in the history of negotiations."

He said while the government's delegation was right about demanding to give the priority to halting violence and terrorism and protecting the borders against the foreign threats, it wasn't right for the delegation to limit its quest to discussing the security file without taking a further step to draw the features of the political solution.

With the failure of the second round of talks, the situation on ground is more or less at a standstill, he said, demanding a broader representation of all opposition parties in the third round, inviting Iran to take part in the talks, embarking on negotiations in different topics simultaneously to come up with a full package of solutions that would start with the humanitarian crisis in Syria to counter terrorism.

Yet, despite the dimming hopes, Syria's official said the Geneva II conference hasn't failed yet.