Faint hopes as Syrian war talks adjourn

As Syrian peace talks were adjourned in Geneva after 10 days, the UN mediator said he was encouraged that there was “no drama, no walkouts” — but, while a shaky truce has continued to hold across the war-torn country, there was also no visible sign of progress on a lasting settlement.

The ultimate goal for Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy, is a plan for political transition in Syria.

In the wake of the Brussels bombings de Mistura sought to focus international attention on the next step, saying that to defeat “terrorism, you have to find a political solution in Syria.”

Although he succeeded in keeping Syrian government and opposition delegations from walking away from the indirect talks, de Mistura made little headway on getting them to sit around the same table or discuss the UN Security Council’s envisaged political transition away from president Bashar Assad’s government.

Still, the fact that the talks did not break off in recrimination as they did the last time — coupled with the relative calm on the ground — underline the limited options left for either side of the conflict. Worn out by five years of fighting, with neither side able to defeat the other militarily, the warring sides appeared to acknowledge that they have no choice but to continue talking.

The US and Russia, who back opposite sides of the war, are working together toward a political settlement for the civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.

The talks were adjourned on Thursday, with de Mistura setting April 9 as a “target date” for resumption. The top Syrian government envoy, Bashar Ja’afari, met the envoy on the final day but didn’t hold a news conference before leaving Geneva.

The night before, when asked by a reporter about whether the talks had made progress, Ja’afari said the two sides had worked through some unspecified issues that had existed when the talks began on March 14.

“For the first time, we were able to break the impasse, perhaps symbolically and perhaps a bit more in substance, but we have not yet started on substantial matters,” he said, according to the Syrian state-run news agency Sana. George Sabra, a senior member of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, indicated Thursday that his side was committed to continuing talking.

“Progress in the talks is difficult, but we will fight this battle as we have fought the war,” he told reporters.

As in previous talks, the sticking point remains the fate of President Assad.