Syria rebels will not attend Astana peace talks, says spokesman

Syrian rebel factions will not attend a new round of negotiations with government figures in the Kazakh capital scheduled for March 14-15, an opposition delegation spokesman said, while the Kazakh foreign minister said Russia, Turkey and Iran were pressing ahead with the fresh round of Syria talks.

"Rebel groups have decided not to participate in Astana," AFP quoted Osama Abu Zeid as saying, adding that one reason for the boycott was "unfulfilled pledges related to the cessation of hostilities." 

The third round of talks in Astana, sponsored by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey, is scheduled to begin on March 14.

The Astana track has aimed to reinforce a fragile cease-fire deal brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December last year.

"We decided not to participate in Astana because the reinforcement of the cease-fire was not implemented," said Ahmad Othman, commander of the Ankara-backed Sultan Murad rebel group.

"The regime and the militias are continuing to bomb, displace, and besiege," he told AFP, and rebel groups had informed the talks' sponsors of their decision.

Syrian rebel groups called last week for the postponement of the talks and said further meetings would depend on whether the government and its allies adhered to a newly declared March 7-20 cease-fire.

Syrian state television on March 13 reported that the government delegation, headed by Syria's representative to the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari, had arrived in the Kazakh capital.

Jaafari has also led the government's representatives in parallel U.N.-backed talks in Geneva.  

"The delegations are arriving today to participate in the next round of the Astana process for resolving the situation in Syria," Kazakh Foreign...