Syrian government won't talk with opposition

GENEVA – The head of the Syrian government delegation at the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva says his team will not engage in any dialogue with the opposition as long as it insists on having President Bashar Assad's removal as its goal.

The comments by Bashar Ja'afari on Thursday came as the eighth round of Syrian talks in Geneva was wrapping up without any progress.

Ja'afari slammed the Syrian opposition for its so-called Riyadh communiqué, issued in Saudi Arabia before the Geneva talks, in which it stated that its ultimate goal was to see Assad step down at the start of a political process.

The Damascus official described the statement as "blackmail of the Geneva process." He also told reporters in Geneva that "those who drew up the Riyadh communiqué are the ones who sabotaged this round" of talks.