Kerry: Look forward to Syria talks Monday
(13 Mar 2016) US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for the resumption of Syria peace talks Monday in Geneva following a meeting with France's new foreign minister and other senior European diplomats. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault hosted Sunday's meeting in Paris which also included his British, German and Italian counterparts, and the European Union's foreign policy chief. The meeting comes ahead of UN-sponsored indirect peace talks on Syria, which are scheduled to start Monday in Geneva amid a two-week partial cease-fire that has mostly held. The Syrian government will send a delegation to Geneva to take part in UN-sponsored indirect peace talks with the opposition, but has rejected the UN envoy's call for presidential elections to be held in the next 18 months. Comments made on Saturday by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem "clearly tried to disrupt the process" of negotiations, Kerry said. Al-Moallem said the Syrian government team won't stay more than 24 hours if the opposition doesn't show up. Kerry insisted that both Iran and Russia - supporters of the Syrian regime - have adopted "an approach which dictates that there must be a political transition and that we must move towards a presidential election at some point of time." The last round of indirect talks collapsed on February 3 over a Russian-backed government offensive in Aleppo. The new round of negotiations comes amid a two-week partial cease-fire that has mostly held. Additionally, diplomats have discussed a possible initiative to restart the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, the chaotic situation in Libya, Yemen's civil war and the Ukraine peace process were also on the agenda in Paris. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni called for the reestablishment of Libya's government in Tripoli to shore up support for the country's new Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
