REPORT: No Syria peace conference in November - Russia's Itar-Tass

An international peace conference involving Syrian government and opposition representatives will not be held this month, Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted a source close to preparatory talks as saying on Tuesday.

"The conference will not be held before December," Itar-Tass quoted the unidentified source as saying in Geneva as Russian and US diplomats met U.N. special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in the Swiss city.

Lakhdar Brahimi and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman also plan to meet with officials from Britain, France, China and other regional powers affected by the war in Syria.

Meanwhile, Syria's information minister said that government officials will not discuss handing over power or forming a transitional government at peace talks planned for later this month in Switzerland seemingly since members of the exiled and Western-backed opposition group insist Assad be excluded from Syria's future leadership for any talks to take place.

In an interview with Syrian state TV late Monday, al-Zoubi said Geneva talks are part of a political process, "and not a handover of power or forming a transitional governing body."

The conflict began as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad's rule in March 2011.

It gradually became an armed conflict after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent.

Over the past year, the fighting took on sectarian overtones with predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels fighting Assad's regime that is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot Shiite group. Over 100,000 people have died.   

OPCW:                 

The international body tasked with eliminating Syria's chemical weapons has raised only enough money so far to fund its mission through this month, and more cash will have to be found soon to pay for the destruction of poison gas stocks next year.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last month, is overseeing the destruction of Syria's nerve agent stocks under a U.S.-Russian agreement reached in September.

It has so far raised about 10 million euros ($13.5 million) for the task.

The United States has been the biggest contributor so far to the OPCW's fund for the Syria mission, with Britain, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland also contributing.

Under the joint Russian-American proposal, Syria agreed in September to destroy its entire chemical weapons program by mid-2014. The move averted missile strikes threatened by Washington following an August 21 sarin gas attack in the outskirts of Damascus that killed hundreds of people.

UN humanitarian aid:

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told the UN Security Council that the number of Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance has risen dramatically to 9.3 million people, up from 6.8 million in June.

Spokeswoman Amanda Pitt said Amos also told the council in a closed briefing Monday that those in need include 6.5 million people who have fled their homes but remain in the country, up from 4.25 million displaced people in June.

Syria's cooperation on the elimination of its chemical weapons is in stark contrast to the obstacles it has erected for humanitarian access and delivery of aid.

Pitt said Amos has been pressing Security Council members to use their influence to ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. 

International positions:

Russia said that Iran must be invited to a proposed peace conference on Syria, reiterating its stance after the main Syrian opposition leader said his coalition would not attend if Iran took part.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also criticized Syrian National Coalition chief Ahmad Jarba's demand for a clear time frame for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power, saying there should be no preconditions for the "Geneva 2" peace talks.

Two of Lavrov's deputies were due to meet US diplomats and UN-Arab League Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Tuesday in Geneva to discuss efforts to convene the long-delayed conference first proposed by the United States and Russia in May.

On the field:                       

Eyewitnesses said a mortar shell slammed into a Damascus building that houses the Vatican's embassy.

It was not clear if the diplomatic mission was specifically targeted in the early morning attack Tuesday, which damaged the roof.

The building is located on the edge of the upscale Damascus' district of Abu Roummaneh. No casualties were reported.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest in the string of assaults on foreign diplomatic missions in Damascus.

Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad have frequently fired mortars into Damascus to disrupt life in the capital, where the government tries to portray the situation as normal despite the civil war raging well into its third year.

In another incident, Syrian Kurdish fighters captured on Monday more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militant group said, tightening their grip on an area where they have been setting up autonomous rule.

The Kurds said they had routed their rivals in three days of battles, while Islamist sources spoke of a tactical retreat.   


REUTERS/AP


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