Tense beginning to Syria peace talks

At the start of the Geneva II International Conference on Syria in Montreux, Switzerland on Wednesday, the opening remarks presaged the tense discussions to follow.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assigned the "primary responsibility" for ending the Syrian conflict to the "Syrians themselves."

As for the international community, their "duty... is to do everything within their power to help." Ban emphasized Geneva II's goal as the establishment of "a transitional governing body with full executive powers, formed by mutual consent” that includes both military forces and intelligence services. United States Secretary of State John Kerry stated plainly that the required "mutual consent" for a transitional government rules out the continued presence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in leadership. "Bashar Assad will not be part of that transition government. There is no way -- no way possible in the imagination -- that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern."

Kerry levied strong condemnation at the Assad regime for meeting peaceful demonstrations with "ever-increasing force" that led to a three-year conflict and more than 130,000 dead.

Kerry called the "tough and complicated negotiation" to come a "test" of international solidarity and Syria's future.

The UN convened the two-part conference, with the U.S. and Russia serving as co-hosts. Wednesday marked the beginning of a one-day international summit. On Friday, direct talks between delegates from the Assad regime and the opposition Syrian National Coalition will begin in Geneva, with UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi serving as the organizer.

[United Nations] [State Department]