DHAKA: Syria’s fractured opposition began meeting Saturday in Istanbul to decide whether to attend a peace conference that world powers want to hold in Geneva.

The talks involving the main umbrella opposition, the National Coalition, took place in a hotel here as the rebels retook a strategic base in northern Syria.

They were due to continue through Sunday evening, the coalition said, reports dailynewsegypt.com.

Before they decide whether to attend the peace conference, aimed at launching negotiations between president Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its opponents, bitter rival camps in the opposition must first seek a united front, UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned earlier this week.

‘There should be two delegations from Syria for Geneva 2, the government and the opposition,’ Brahimi said Tuesday. But, he added, ‘The opposition is divided and not ready… The opposition has problems’.

The National Coalition, which depends on foreign backing, has long been plagued by regional rivalries and suffers from a lack of credibility in the eyes of both its allies and the various rebel groups fighting on the ground.

Some rebel leaders believe that no negotiations are possible with Assad remaining in power and have for weeks resisted the idea of peace talks.

Assad is showing no sign of backing down, two-and-a-half years into a conflict that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.

BDST: 2025 HRS, NOV 09, 2013
RoR/JCK