BEIRUT (AP) – Two days before peace talks are scheduled to begin in Geneva, Syrian groups opposed to President Bashar Assad are still sharply divided on who should represent them at the talks, opposition officials said Friday as a new wave of air raids in eastern Syria killed at least 40 people.
One senior Kurdish official denounced the negotiating team announced in Saudi Arabia last week as a “delegation of jihadis.”
Many in the opposition say Russia wants to add names to the delegation that opposition groups backed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar announced this week in Saudi. The U.N.-backed talks between the Syrian government and opposition are scheduled for Monday although officials have said they might be delayed by few days.
Abdul-Basit Sieda of the Saudi-backed opposition said they reject Russia’s desire to add names to the opposition list.
Another opposition official said Moscow wants to add to the delegation among others, Qadri Jamil, a former Syrian deputy prime minister, as well as Saleh Muslim, the co-president of the largest Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party or PYD.