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Conflict in Syria

Politician says suspension of HNC participation won't lead to disruption of Syria talks

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Hmeimim group to continue dialogue even if HNC withdraws with Geneva talks — group leader

GENEVA, April 18. /TASS/. The suspension of the participation of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) in the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva will not lead to their disruption, one of the leaders of Syria’s Popular Front for Change and Liberation, representative of the opposition "Moscow platform" (within the Moscow-Cairo group) Qadri Jamil told TASS on Monday.

"There is a difference between leaving the negotiations and taking a break," he noted commenting on media reports saying that the HNC decided to suspend its participation in the talks over the situation at Aleppo. "Let them take a rest in the hotel for a day or two. They will relax and come back."

According to Jamil, the situation near Aleppo is used by the HNC as just a pretext for attaining political goals. "Aleppo is not the most important issue," he said. "They (HNC members) overestimate the role of the Aleppo issue. They create such problems every time there are opportunities for a political breakthrough." "So, all this does not surprise us. We expect such complications. However, this is not a problem for the negotiations," the politician said.

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Jamil noted he had no doubt that the HNC delegation would remain at the talks whose second round has been going on in Geneva since April 13. "They will remain. They will just ‘make a face’ that they are offended but will remain," he said. However, in his opinion, the HNC’s departure would not lead to the collapse of the talks either. "If they leave, they will make our task easier. Other delegations, which can continue the talks, will stay," Jamil said.

On April 17 and 18, some representatives of the High Negotiations Committee made a number of statements on the situation at Aleppo saying that they would not be able to continue working in Geneva, if the situation there continued to deteriorate.

However, according to Russian envoy to the United Nations office and other international organizations in Geneva Alexei Borodavkin, the cessation of hostilities regime is violated mostly by illegal armed groups, not the Syrian army. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad earlier told TASS that combat operations at Aleppo were directed against terrorists.

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Syrian conflict

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