Analyst: Syria Achieving Upper-Hand before Geneva Talks


Analyst: Syria Achieving Upper-Hand before Geneva Talks

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Ongoing developments in Syria are in favor of the Syrian nation and its government as the Syrian army has changed the military equation in its favor and this would give the country the upper-hand in the upcoming Geneva II talks, a Syrian university professor said on Saturday.

“The military equations are presently in favor of the Syrian army and this would positively affect the upcoming Geneva II Conference,” Damascus University professor Riyadh Muhammad al-Akhras told Tasnim News Agency.

He said that the prevailing evidence shows that the armed terrorists in Syria are on the decline, both militarily and politically, and that many of them have put down their weapons and surrendered to the Syrian army.

The Syrian university professor said that the armed anti-government groups, which are mostly staffed by foreign terrorists, are reviled by the Syrian people and only try to put the nation's interests at stake, predicting that internecine conflicts among these groups will further weaken them.

On Thursday, Syrian deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, said in Moscow that a proposed peace conference in Geneva could take place November 23-24, saying "we are closer than ever to holding the Geneva 2".

In their latest victory, the Syrian army on October 13 advanced against the rebels in the countryside of the capital Damascus and pushed its way to the northern city of Aleppo.

In a bid to secure the heart of Al-Ghouta, the eastern countryside of Damascus, the Syrian army started an operation in the al-Baharieh town to close in on the rebels and push its way to the town of Nashabieh.

Both towns are part of Ghouta, which is overwhelmed by several rebel factions.

During the recent actions near Aleppo, the Syrian army had dismantled more than 600 anti-tanks mines and 1,500 explosive devices, according to the state media.

Reports said the Syrian troops' push toward Aleppo came apparently as part of a tactic to take advantage of the infighting that has flared between terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA).

In another development, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is inspecting Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons said on Thursday that nearly half its inspections of the arsenal were complete.

Syria has been praised for its close cooperation with the inspectors, but the UNs has stressed that crucial deadlines be met. These include verifying Syria's chemical weapons, identifying key equipment, destroying production facilities and starting the destruction of Category 3 chemical weapons by November 1.
Inspectors have until June 30 next year to destroy all of Syria's chemical arsenal.

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