BEIRUT (AP) – Rebel groups in Syria say they are rejecting peace talks in Geneva later this month unless humanitarian conditions mentioned in a U.N. resolution are fulfilled.
In a statement Wednesday, the Free Syrian Army and 33 other factions and rebel groups – including the powerful Army of Islam – say the humanitarian clauses specified in the resolution must be met.
Unless this happens, the statement says: “We reject going ahead with any negotiations.”
The U.N. has been urging the belligerents in Syria’s five-year-conflict to the negotiating table on Jan. 25 in an effort to find a resolution to a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.