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Syria Talks Open with Acrimony and Testy Exchanges Syria Talks Open with Acrimony and Testy Exchanges
(about 1 hour later)
MONTREUX, Switzerland — Friction and acrimony broke out almost immediately on Wednesday with the start of a long-delayed peace conference on Syria, punctuated by a testy exchange between the Syrian foreign minister and the leader of the United Nations, casting doubt on the prospects for easing hostilities or even opening up emergency aid corridors to help besieged civilians.MONTREUX, Switzerland — Friction and acrimony broke out almost immediately on Wednesday with the start of a long-delayed peace conference on Syria, punctuated by a testy exchange between the Syrian foreign minister and the leader of the United Nations, casting doubt on the prospects for easing hostilities or even opening up emergency aid corridors to help besieged civilians.
The conference in the lakeside Swiss city of Montreux, already troubled by last-minute diplomatic stumbles, had barely begun when the sharp divisions among the delegates charged the atmosphere even more. The conference of delegates representing 30 countries in the lakeside Swiss city of Montreux, already troubled by last-minute diplomatic stumbles, was described by Secretary of State John Kerry as a test for the international community. But the meeting had barely begun when the atmosphere grew even more charged over divisions between the United States and Russia and especially among the Syrians themselves.
Secretary of State John Kerry described the Syria crisis as a test for the international community and said it was unthinkable that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria could play a role in a transitional administration that would govern the country. The establishment of such a transitional body by “mutual consent” of the Assad government and the Syrian opposition is the major goal of the conference. The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, who led his country’s delegation, was openly defiant, calling Syrian insurgents evil and ignoring appeals by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, to avoid invective or even yield the floor as a bell rang signaling that he had exceeded the allotted time for his remarks.
“The right to lead a country does not come from torture,” Mr. Kerry said. “The only thing standing in the way is the stubborn clinging to power of one man.” “You live in New York, I live in Syria,” Mr. Moallem snapped after Mr. Ban asked that he conclude his speech, which lasted more than 30 minutes.
But Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, challenged the American insistence that Mr. Assad be excluded from a possible transitional administration, arguing that the conference had to “refrain from any attempt to predetermine the outcome of the process.” After Mr. Moallem finished Mr. Ban lamented that his injunction that participants take a constructive approach to the crisis “had been broken.”
Mr. Lavrov also argued that Iran, like Russia a staunch supporter of the Assad government, should be involved in conference proceedings. The United States has opposed allowing Iran to participate until it publicly endorses the mandate for the conference and successfully pressed the United Nations to withdraw its invitation to Tehran to attend. Despite the lack of concrete progress, several Syrians expressed hope that the conference signaled the start of a process in which Syrians might eventually overcome their differences.
The stark differences between the American and Russia positions were outlined in civil tones. But that diplomatic restraint was soon abandoned when the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, took the floor. “It’s a historic moment,” said Ibrahim al-Hamidi, a veteran journalist for the Saudi-owned Al Hayat newspaper, originally from the northern Syrian city of Idlib. “After three years of military struggle, when the opposition tried very hard to destroy the regime, and the regime tried very had to crush the opposition, this is the first time the two delegations sit down in one room under U.N. auspices.”
Before Mr. Moallem spoke, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, implored the Assad government and the Syrian opposition to avoid inflammatory language and to take a constructive approach. Another Syrian journalist, speaking on condition of anonymity to express an opinion, pointed to the fact that many in the government delegation had likely never come face to face with an avowed opposition activist.
But Mr. Moallem launched into a diatribe in which he accused Arab nations of financing terrorism and conspiring to destroy his country. “They have used their petrodollars to buy weapons,” he said, “and to flood the international media with lies.” “These people have never seen, let alone spoken, to anyone in the opposition,” he said. “They’ve never seen Haytham Maleh,” he added, referring to a former political prisoner in his 80s, who is a member of the opposition’s delegation here. “So for them to sit across the table for him is historic. It is as if people from the Stalinist system suddenly sat down with the White Russians.”
Mr. Moallem spoke for more than half an hour, far more than the seven minutes the opening speakers were allotted. As his address went on. Mr. Ban urged Mr. Moallem to wrap up his speech and to avoid his incendiary attacks. On the eve of the conference, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Ban and Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, engaged in a calculated display of comity, a gesture that appeared intended to play down the United States’s successful lobbying effort to persuade the United Nations to withdraw its invitation to Iran to attend the meeting.
“You live in New York. I live in Syria,” Mr. Moallem said defiantly. “Do we all look happy?” Mr. Lavrov quipped as the three held hands in for a Tuesday night photo opportunity.
After Mr. Ban again urged Mr. Moallem to be concise, the Syrian foreign minister said he would conclude soon, saying, “Syria always keeps its promises.” But he continued with his denunciations. But when the conference opened on Wednesday the sharp differences re-emerged. Mr. Kerry said it was unthinkable that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria could play a role in a transitional administration that would govern the country as part of a political settlement. The establishment of such a transitional body by “mutual consent” of the Assad government and the Syrian opposition is the major goal of the conference.
After Mr. Moallem finished, Mr. Ban said that his injunction that participants take a constructive approach “had been broken.” “The right to lead a country does not come from torture, nor barrel bombs, nor Scud missiles,” Mr. Kerry said. “And the only thing standing in its way is the stubborn clinging to power of one man, one family.”
Ahmad Assi al-Jarba, the president of the Syrian opposition coalition, spoke next and denounced the Assad government and Iran, which has sent arms and members of the elite Quds force to support Mr. Assad’s troops. But Mr. Lavrov challenged the American insistence that Mr. Assad be excluded from a possible transitional administration, arguing that the conference had to “refrain from any attempt to predetermine the outcome of the process.” Mr. Lavrov also revived the Russian argument that Iran, Mr. Assad’s regional ally, should be present, challenging the American position that Iran not be allowed to participate until it publicly endorses the mandate for the conference.
“We want to be sure we have a Syrian partners in this room.” Mr. Jarba said, alluding to the conference’s goal to establish a transitional administration. “Do we have such a partner?” While the stark differences between the American and Russia positions were outlined in civil tones, that diplomatic restraint was abandoned when Mr. Moallem took the floor and launched into a diatribe in which he accused Arab nations of financing terrorism and conspiring to destroy his country. “They have used their petrodollars to buy weapons,” he said,” and to flood the international media with lies.”
Mr. Jarba said that the opposition would never accept a role for Mr. Assad in a transitional administration. Mr. Moallem also accused insurgents of conducting “sexual jihad” by brainwashing women into becoming sex slaves and engaging in incest. After Mr. Ban repeatedly urged him to be concise, the Syrian foreign minister said he would conclude soon, adding that “Syria always keeps its promises.”
“We see only one option, negotiating a transition government born by mutual consent,” Mr. Kerry said as the gathering opened. But he continued with his denunciations of the opposition. “Your glorious revolution,” he said sarcastically, “did not leave one single evil deed on earth that it did not do.”
“That means that Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that transition government,” he said, referring to the Syrian president, who is represented at the talks by senior officials. Ahmad al- Jarba, the president of the Syrian opposition, opened with the story of Hajar al-Khatib, 11, who he said had been shot by government forces as she rode a bus to school in Rastan, near the central city of Homs, in May 2011, in the early days of the anti-Assad protests that morphed into a civil war.
There was no way, Mr. Kerry said, that a man who has “led the brutal response to his own people can regain legitimacy to govern.” “Ten-thousand children have died because of the Syrian Army,” he asserted.
After two days of talks here, the gathering is to move to Geneva for what the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, called “the real conference. If it fails, it will be a real crisis.” Syrians “waited almost a year before they fought back,” he said, referring to the transformation of a largely peaceful protest movement to an armed insurgency. “Who, ladies and gentlemen, would accept to be violated in this manner? How long should they have waited?”
Even before the talks began, Iran signaled profound pessimism, with President Hassan Rouhani telling an Iranian news agency that “we cannot have much hope” of a solution. Iran is Mr. Assad’s main regional backer. “We want to be sure we have a Syrian partner in this room.” Mr. Jarba said, alluding to the conference’s goal of establishing a transitional administration. “Do we have such a partner?” Mr. Jarba added, noting that the opposition would never accept a role for Mr. Assad in a transitional administration.
“We also don’t have much hope that this conference will be efficient in establishing stability since some supporters of the terrorists are participating in it,” he told the Mehr news agency, referring to opponents of Mr. Assad. Mr. Rouhani said there was a “lack of influential players” at the conference and he doubted “its ability to resolve the Syria crisis,” the official IRNA news agency reported. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, which supports Syria’s opposition and is home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, reacted sarcastically to Mr. Moallem’s charge that Turkey was backing terrorists. “Yes,” he said, there were many “displaced terrorists in Turkey seeking food and refuge.”
On Sunday, Mr. Ban invited Iran to attend the talks, but withdrew the invitation less than 24 hours later after Tehran said it would not accept preconditions for its attendance. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, was asked during his own brief remarks to the conference if the first day had been a dialogue of the deaf.
In a subsequent posting on Twitter as he left Tehran to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Rouhani seemed to qualify his misgivings, saying that if the meeting in Montreux can “help bring peace & stability” to the people of Syria, “Iran will be happy about this achievement.” “No, one delegation was deaf and blind but no one else,” Mr. Fabius said, referring to Mr. Moallem’s speech. “And one delegation saw itself above all and responsible for nothing.”
Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain, which supports Mr. Assad’s political adversaries, said the talks offered Syrians an “opportunity to put an end to the devastation of your country.” Outside the conference, Mr. Assad’s supporters waved the flags of the Syrian government and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant organization that is helping him. “God, Bashar and nothing else!,” they screamed.
“Now is the time to choose to save a generation of Syrian children from violence and trauma, to end the siege being laid to ancient towns and cities, to begin to repair the rich fabric of Syrian society and to spare millions of refugees the prospect of years of exile, homelessness and deprivation,” Mr. Hague said. An opposition activist, Rami Jarrah, approached them with a television camera. When he asked if Mr. Assad should be tried for war crimes, they began shouting, calling him a Zionist, shoving and pushing. Police intervened, but not before one Assad supporter grabbed a phone from Mr. Jarrah’s colleague and threw it to the ground, breaking it.
Inside, the Syrian information minister, Omran Zoubi, said Syria was open to all journalists and would answer all questions. But when asked by a Syrian opposition journalist from Aleppo, Adnan Hadad, to comment on the deadly barrel bombs the military had used on neighborhoods in his city, Mr. Zoubi turned hostile.
.
“This is the kind of question you ask if you support the terrorist groups,” Mr. Zoubi said. “Ask the Saudi foreign minister.”