Syria government, opposition reject federal system: De Mistura

The UN special envoy for Syria says both the Damascus government and the Syrian opposition oppose federalization in the war-ravaged country.

Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday after holding talks with a delegation of the Syrian opposition in the Swiss city of Geneva that the government and opposition agree on the country's territorial integrity and oppose a "federal system."

“We are not talking about a new agenda, the agenda is very clear, we are looking for commonalities between the two sides and find the gray zone,” he added.

The UN mediator said he held “substantive talks” earlier in the day with the opposition delegation, adding that the opposition had submitted a paper on political transition which “went very deeply into detail.”

De Mistura said his talks with the Syrian government delegation, planned for Friday, is also expected to be productive.

SS