RUSSIA: Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrives in Moscow for talks

Record ID: 276545

  • Title: RUSSIA: Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrives in Moscow for talks
  • Date: 18th November 2013
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (NOVEMBER 18, 2013) (REUTERS) PAN DOWN EXTERIOR OF RUSSIA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY PEOPLE OUTSIDE ENTRANCE FLAGS FLYING ABOVE ENTRANCE CAR BEARING SYRIAN FLAG PULLING UP OUTSIDE, SYRIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER FAISAL MEKDAD GETTING OUT OF CAR, WAVING AND BEING SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS MEKDAD WALKING PAST INSIDE FOREIGN MINISTRY DELEGATION MEMBERS WALKING PAST WIDE
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADF0B25CBP1ITM12WLTDJEROAI
  • Story Text: Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived for talks in Moscow on Monday (November 18) as the United States and Russia are pushing the combatants in Syria's civil war to the negotiating table in Geneva.
    Mekdad was seen arriving at the Russian foreign ministry around 11 a.m. (0700 GMT), accompanied by President Bashar al-Assad's political adviser on political issues, Bouthaina Shaaban.
    According to Interfax news agency, the Syrian delegation will hold "consultations on preparations for the Geneva II conference."
    Interfax also said that "Russian diplomats had conveyed an invitation to representatives of the National Coalition, one of the most influential opposition groups, to come to Moscow for consultations," citing a Syrian National Council representative.
    Since the August 21 nerve gas attacks on rebel suburbs ringing Damascus, which brought the U.S. to the brink of a missile assault on Assad's forces, the diplomatic tide has turned against the opposition, which briefly believed external intervention would enable its forces to launch a final offensive.
    Instead, the combination of hesitation by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration and an 11th hour deal brokered by Russia, a key Assad ally, to decommission Syria's chemical arsenal, has wrong-footed the rebels, now under intense U.S. and European pressure to attend talks in Geneva with a vague agenda.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register