Syria talks plunge into disarray on 2nd day

Fragile indirect negotiations to end Syria’s nearly five-year-old conflict slipped into disarray again on their second day Tuesday, with neither side holding formal sessions with the U.N. envoy in Geneva. The government delegation said it had not opened formal negotiations as scheduled Tuesday with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, saying the basic framework or agenda […]

Fragile indirect negotiations to end Syria’s nearly five-year-old conflict slipped into disarray again on their second day Tuesday, with neither side holding formal sessions with the U.N. envoy in Geneva.
The government delegation said it had not opened formal negotiations as scheduled Tuesday with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, saying the basic framework or agenda of the talks had yet to be established and the process had not yet moved beyond the preparatory phase.
“We are waiting to find out the procedural issues, who will negotiate. Until now nothing is clear: one or two or three or four delegations? There is no clear answers,” Bashar Jaafari, the chief Syrian government representative told reporters in Geneva.
At the same time, the main opposition group cancelled a meeting that it had scheduled with de Mistura on Tuesday.