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Conflict in Syria

Damascus ready to take part in Syrian National Dialogue Congress, says ambassador

The Syrian National Dialogue Congress will take place in Sochi on November 18

© Max Black /AP Photo

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Syrian National Dialogue Congress to be held in Sochi on November 18

ASTANA, October 31. /TASS. Damascus welcomes the convocation of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress [formerly referred to as the Congress of the Peoples of Syria] in Sochi on November 18 and its representatives will attend it, Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN who is heading the governmental delegation to the current round of the Astana talks said on Tuesday.

He said the Syrian government had decided that time had come for holding a conference of this kind and it was ready to take part in the Congress.

Syria's armed opposition has doubts over the rationality of convening the Syrian National Dialogue Congress [previously referred to as the Congress of Peoples of Syria], Yahya Al-Aridi, an advisor to the oppositionist High Negotiations Committee said on Tuesday.

The opposition does not welcome the idea of making it a forum of peoples, as the Syrian people is one united entity and that is why there are doubts as regards the objectives of these initiatives.

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