FM Muallem Says Syria Ready for Prisoner Swap with Rebels

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Syria said on Friday it was ready to swap prisoners with the rebels and would take swift steps that could lead to the first such mass exchange in nearly three years of fighting.

The announcement by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Moscow could mark another diplomatic success for Russia after the Kremlin managed to convince its ally Damascus to renounce its chemical weapons in order to avert imminent U.S. air strikes.

It also came just as the war-torn country's divided opposition prepared to hold decisive talks in Istanbul on whether to join a peace conference that is due to begin on Wednesday in Switzerland.

Muallem failed to specify how many prisoners such a swap would involve or when it might begin. But it would represent a concession to one of the opposition's key demands before it agreed to peace talks.

"I informed (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov of our principled position in favour of an agreement to exchange those held in Syrian prisons for those taken by the other side," Muallem said following talks with his Russian counterpart in a government mansion in the heart of Moscow.

"We are ready to exchange lists and develop the necessary mechanism for accomplishing these goals," Muallem said in remarks translated from Arabic into Russian.

Muallem also confirmed his government's plans to send a senior delegation to the Swiss lakeside city of Montreux where the long-delayed peace conference -- the first since June 2012 -- is due to begin.

Syria "will take part in Geneva II and make every effort to ensure this event is a success and meets the aspirations of the Syrian people and the direct orders of President Bashar Assad," said Muallem.

He added that Assad will send his representatives to Switzerland "irrespective of the situation around the participation or the non-participation of the National Coalition at this conference."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday also called the umbrella rebel group not to boycott the talks because they represented "the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the Syrian people and the revolution."

Plans for the peace conference were first announced in May by Kerry and Lavrov in Moscow amid indications that the war that has now claimed 130,000 lives had reached a stalemate.

But more recent government advances have put the rebels at a disadvantage at any negotiations.

They have also been increasingly riven by rivalries between jihadists and more mainstream Islamists -- as well as among groups with allegiance to Saudi Arabia and those getting military and financial backing from Qatar.

Russia meanwhile has been on the diplomatic ascendent ever since managing to avert seemingly inevitable U.S. strikes against Assad's forces in September by forcing the regime to renounce its chemical arms.

Lavrov and Kerry this week also issued a joint call for Syria's regime and the rebels to agree to ceasefires in parts of their battle-scarred country that could begin in the devastated northern city of Aleppo.

Muallem did not address the ceasefire call directly but said he had handed Lavrov "a plan concerning measures for ensuring security in Aleppo."

Lavrov said Muallem had informed him of Assad's readiness "to take a series of humanitarian steps" that would lead to the speedy delivery of assistance to those suffering from the 34-month civil war.

"This concerns specific proposals that are already being implemented concerning the delivery of humanitarian supplies to settlements in the Eastern Ghuta region and other areas, including the suburbs of Damascus and Aleppo," Lavrov said.

Comments 16
Thumb Mystic 17 January 2014, 12:21

Good government, which the Syrian people loves.

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 12:37

taqiya is definitely 9 tenth of ur beliefs, ya dirty khomeynist...

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 14:12

ft, are u also a fan of indian khomeyni ?

Thumb ice-man 17 January 2014, 14:42

Flamethrower: Please, once again I ask you to refrain from using offensive language on this site. Referring to your fellow commenters in derogatory terms will not earn you respect. I am sorry to inform you I am going to vote you down for the first time ever!

Thumb ex-fpm 17 January 2014, 14:40

i thought the regime always maintained it had no prisoners!

Thumb Mystic 18 January 2014, 21:01

If the Syrian people didn't love him, then Assad would have been gone a long time ago.

Thumb Mystic 17 January 2014, 12:43

According to your wahabi beliefs, everyone opposing you, are taqiya anyway, so doesn't matter.

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 13:04

1- wahabia doesn't exist , if it did exist and i was wahabi, I would be man enough to say I'm wahabi, nothing to hide, u dont pay my bills. Unlike u who is a khomeynist that used to pretend he is secularist...

2- most shias hawzas dont do taqiya/BS, Qom, Khomenei(even if denied), Khamenei and Nassy ur boss does.

3- u must be sick and stupid to pretend syrian people love bashar, it's like saying that iranians that were gazed by Saddam love him...

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 14:01

did u just read the article u posted ? maybe u should not to embarass urself. Wahabi is a derogatory term mainly created by shias. U never opened a book of Mohamed ibn AbdWahab, I STUDIED them, I dare u cant find anything new he said, in comparaison with the 4 imams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahabi#Naming_controversy:_Wahhabism_and_Salafism

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 14:04

bashar is holding thanks to alawites, shias from lebanon, iraq,iran,afghanistan. Also thanks to his air superiority offered by the west by forbiding manpads to rebels, in order to prolong the war.

Thumb cedars2 17 January 2014, 14:29

Very good ft i see u started using wikipedia as a reference

Thumb cedre 17 January 2014, 14:37

if u were less ignorant ft, u would know that sunnism=salafism, wahabism doesn't exist, etc...
The problem is u learned about sunni islam on almanar and post article u dont even read... I cant blame u though, many people like u are media victims, just parroting...

Thumb Mystic 18 January 2014, 21:01

Wahabis does exist. Who do you think did 9/11?

Thumb ice-man 17 January 2014, 14:41

@sagh: Please provide the usual email addy in case we need R.S.V.P.

Thumb ice-man 17 January 2014, 14:47

... and I quote"......"

Thumb -phoenix1 17 January 2014, 20:00

Criminal Takfiris!