UN 'ready to engage' with Assad in Syria talks
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The UN envoy for Syria is "ready to engage" with President Bashar Assad's representatives as peace talks are set to resume in Geneva, but they haven't shown up yet.
UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci says the eighth round of peace talks under special envoy Staffan de Mistura was set to restart Tuesday after a weekend break.
She said: "The delegation of the government has been invited back in Geneva as of today."
Syria's ambassador to Geneva, Hussam Edin Aala, told The Associated Press that Damascus was "studying" the invitation.
The head of Syria's government delegation has blasted the opposition for a communique in which it stated its ultimate goal was to remove Assad from power. Bashar Ja'afari said on Friday his team was leaving Geneva for the weekend and that Syria would decide whether it would return to the talks.
Ja'afari warned then that there could be no progress in the talks as long as the opposition insisted on what he described as a "provocative and irresponsible" position.
