Syrian rebels ‘suspend’ participation in Astana peace talks

ASTANA AFP May3, 2017- Syrian rebels on Wednesday said they were suspending their participation as a latest round of peace talks began in Kazakhstan, with the warring sides set to discuss a plan to create safe zones.   

 “The rebel delegation is suspending the meetings because of the violent air strikes on civilians. The suspension will continue until shelling stops across all Syria,” a rebel source in the Kazakh capital Astana told AFP.   Syrian government and rebel delegations gathered on Wednesday for the start of a fourth round of talks sponsored by regime backers Russia and Iran and opposition supporter Turkey.   

The latest round of negotiations began with a series of bilateral meetings and was set to focus on a Russian plan to establish “de-escalation zones” around the war-torn country.