4 May 2017 12:52 pm
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.