Syrian Opposition Shouldn't Set Preconditions For Talks: Russian Deputy FM
The Syrian opposition should not set preconditions for starting negotiations with the Syrian government, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said.
"[The opposition] will bear the historic responsibility for the failure of the talks, because there should be no preconditions for the start of negotiations," Bogdanov said.
Bogdanov said that all issues, "humanitarian, confidence-building measures, are important -- but this cannot be a precondition for the start of a political process, because deciding these issues during a political process can, in our view, facilitate the situation, when Syrians discuss this together under the auspices of the UN."
Bogdanov's comments came after the opposition's chief negotiator, Mohamad Alloush, said that there would be "zero chance" of peace talks unless Damascus took certain humanitarian steps.
More photos of the fires at the Ras Lanuf oil terminal in Libya, which came under attack from the IS group this morning.
'Zero Chance' Of Syria Talks Without Goodwill Steps From Damascus: Negotiator
There will be "zero chance" of Syrian peace talks unless the government takes humanitarian steps set out by the UN Security Council, the opposition's chief negotiator Mohamad Alloush has said.
Alloush is a leader of the Islam Army, a powerful rebel group that Moscow and Damascus consider a terrorist group.
The measures the opposition want implemented include a halt to attacks on civilian areas.
From our news desk:
Kyrgyz Police Officer Charged With Selling Weapons To Terrorists
BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz police officer has been arrested on charges of selling weapons to terrorists.
The Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on January 21 that the police officer was detained on January 17 in the southern region of Jalal-Abad after a suspected terrorist who was detained with guns and ammunition named the officer as a weapons supplier.
Kyrgyz authorities have raised concerns about an increasing number of attacks against police that have been carried out by Islamic extremists in recent months.
Authorities in the mainly Muslim former Soviet republics of Central Asia say hundreds of their citizens have fought alongside Islamic State (IS) militants and other extremists in Syria and Iraq.
Armed Militants Stealing British Food Parcels Destined For Starving Syrians: NAO
Armed militants are stealing British food aid parcels intended for starving Syrian civilians, Britain's National Audit Office (NAO) has said in a report published today.
According to the NAO, militants took £70,000 (nearly $100,000) worth of aid in a single raid.
Food baskets are particularly targeted by militants, the report said.
Bosnia Arrests Man Suspected Of Fighting Alongside IS
Bosnian police have arrested a man on suspicion that he fought alongside IS militants.
The man, known only as M.K., is from Velika Kladusa and was arrested in the evening of January 20 at Sarajevo airport. He is thought to have fought alongside IS from November 2014 through June 2015.
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq says that it has killed around 95 senior and mid-level IS leaders in air strikes since May.
Syria's U.N. Envoy Bashar al-Jaafari Will Represent It At Peace Talks
Syria's U.N. envoy Bashar al-Jaafari will be the government's chief negotiator in upcoming peace talks, a government source has said. The delegation will be overseen by Foreign Minister Faisal al-Moqdad.
There is an ongoing dispute, however, over which opposition groups will be present at the talks and who will represent them, which is threatening to delay the negotiations.
The main coalition of opposition bodies has named a member of the Islam Army group as its chief negotiator. Damascus considers the Islam Army to be a terror group.
Belgium Arrests 2 Suspects Over Paris Attacks
Belgium has arrested two more men suspected of having links to the November 13 attacks in Paris in which 130 people were killed, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said.
The men, identified as Belgian national Zakaria J., born in 1986 and Moroccan national Mustafa E., born in 1981, were arrested during two house searches on Wednesday and Thursday morning in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, prosecutors said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has tweeted this photo of himself meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Davos today and noted that the meeting was an opportunity to discuss the United States' commitment to the destruction of the IS group.