Glimmer of hope in 2015 for Syria – peace talks possible in Moscow in January

#Syria #peacetalks #BasharalAssad An official of the Syrian government has indicated that Syria was ready to take part in preparatory, advisory meetings in Moscow which could, in turn, pave the way to answer the aspirations of Syrians and help to find an exit from the present crisis.
This is against the backdrop of Russia's Foreign Ministry’s indication that it hoped to host peace talks after Jan. 20 between the Syrian government and its fractured opposition.
It may be recalled that the nearly four-year-old conflict has claimed over 200,000 lives, displaced a third of Syria's population, and nurtured an extremist group, the Islamic State, which now rules over vast swaths of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Syrian state-run TV has remarked that the government is prepared to take part in peace talks hosted by Russia next month, and the scope of the negotiations would be limited to "preliminary" talks which could form a basis for a conference in Syria itself.
It is no secret that Russia is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hadi Bahra, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition group, has revealed that it had not yet taken any decision on the talks.
The Western-backed Syrian opposition has been insisting that any negotiated settlement should include the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers but this demand has been rejected by Assad's government.