International
The Syrian opposition called on Wednesday for the creation of a transitional governing body to oversee a U.N. monitored cease-fire. The body would be empowered to drive out foreign fighters deployed on both sides of Syria’s three-year-old civil war, which has so far killed at least 130,000 people.
The confidential plan, seen by Reuters, was presented to international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi and a Syrian government delegation at a joint session held during peace talks in Geneva.
The Syrian government delegation on Wednesday rejected any discussion of a transitional government as "fruitless" and said that negotiations must first focus on fighting violence by armed groups it considers “terrorists.”
The plan makes no mention of the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but opposition forces said that he had been left out on purpose to make clear he had no role in a transitional government.
"The Transitional Governing Body (TGB) will prepare and oversee a total cease-fire by taking immediate measures to stop military violence, protect civilians and stabilize the country in the presence of U.N. observers," the five-page document said.
It calls on all parties to "cooperate with the TGB in stopping the violence including the complete withdrawal of troops and tackling the issue of decommissioning the weapons of armed groups and demobilizing its members or integrating them into the army or civil public sectors.”
The Syrian government delegation did not reply directly to the proposal, opposition spokesman Louay Safi told reporters.
News of the opposition plan was revealed as a humanitarian cease-fire in the besieged Syrian city of Homs neared its end. The lull in fighting allowed hundreds of civilians, some weak and malnourished, to flee their homes.
More civilians are expected to leave Homs before an extended cease-fire agreement expires at midnight Wednesday, the Syrian Red Crescent, a humanitarian aid group, said in a statement.
The Red Crescent has been part of the relief effort in Homs since Friday, when the U.N.-brokered truce went into effect. Its statement said the staff entered the city Wednesday to deliver 190 food parcels and 190 bags of flour.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Syria's government had broken its obligations under international law, which requires states to ensure minimum food supplies, essential medicine and safe water.
"Almost none of these obligations have been met in Old Homs, and various other besieged areas in recent months," Colville said.
The Geneva talks have been accompanied by a sharp rise in violence on the ground in Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes Assad, said a least 4,959 people have died in Syria in the three-week period since Jan. 22, when the first round of talks began in Switzerland.
Al Jazeera and wire services
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, at least two million refugees have fled the country
Yet right from the start, the hard lines of division between many of the participants cast doubt on the success of the meeting.
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