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          International Players Seek Consensus on Syria as Talks Begin

   by Pamela Dockins

   International talks on Syria's future are set to begin Thursday in
   Vienna, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling the summit the
   "most promising" opportunity in years to end the country's four and
   a-half years of "nonstop horror."

   Senior diplomats from the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey will
   participate in the informal talks Thursday. On Friday, the summit will
   expand to include representatives from other nations, including Iran,
   one of Syria's top international backers.

   The talks notably will not include members of either the Syrian
   government or the main groups trying to overthrow it. Nonetheless,
   Kerry on Wednesday expressed optimism that the talks appear to be the
   best way to reach an eventual peace. "While finding a way forward on
   Syria will not be easy -- it's not going to be automatic -- it is the
   most promising opportunity for a political opening we have seen," Kerry
   said, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

   Rattling off the statistics - one in 20 Syrians has been wounded or
   killed, one in five is a refugee - Kerry said: "My friends, the
   challenge we face in Syria today is nothing less than to chart a course
   out of hell."

   ''

   Kerry, who left for Vienna following the speech, said the U.S. is
   taking a two-pronged approach to Syria. One is the diplomatic route, as
   exemplified by this week's negotiations.

   The second prong is intensifying the counter-Islamic State campaign
   being conducted by a U.S. led coalition. Kerry said the coalition will
   be resupplying moderate fighters in Northern Syria, enhancing its air
   campaign and beginning to put pressure on Islamic State's chief city of
   Raqqa. "The president has made clear that we are determined to degrade
   [Islamic State] more rapidly."

   US lawmakers skeptical

   Earlier Wednesday, U.S. lawmakers questioned the prospects for progress
   in multi-national talks about Syria's political future, considering the
   gaps between the U.S. position and the views of Russia and Iran.

   "It is hard to square... the facts on the ground with the potential for
   some grand diplomatic solution," Senator Bob Corker said during a
   Capitol Hill hearing on U.S. Middle East strategy.

   Corker cited Russia's continued airstrikes against the Syrian
   opposition, including some opposition groups that receive U.S. support,
   as a key reason for his skepticism. He also noted Iran and Russia's
   efforts in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been
   the focal point of the four-year cycle of bloodshed in Syria.

   ''

   In addition, comments in Tehran Wednesday indicated Iran's position is
   still starkly at odds with the U.S. view of the situation in Syria.

   At the Senate hearing, General John Allen told lawmakers the crisis in
   Syria is one of the most complex situations he has seen in his military
   career. Allen is a retired Marine Corps general who is special U.S.
   envoy assigned to counter the activities of Islamic State militants in
   Syria and other countries.

   Senator Corker asked Allen if the Obama administration could envision a
   situation in which Russian military units in Syria would focus
   exclusively on Islamic State targets in Syria, and exclude other Syrian
   opposition groups from their airstrikes.

   General Allen replied no, because Russia's overall goal in Syria is to
   "stabilize" President Bashar al-Assad by fighting the opposition
   elements that pose the greatest threat to his regime.

   In his speech, Kerry said that while the U.S. has big differences with
   Russia, there also are areas of agreement including a conviction that
   the status quo is untenable and that Syria can only be saved through a
   political settlement

   Part of a broader effort

   Iran's foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and
   three of his deputies will take part in the talks. But there also were
   fresh signs that Iran and the United States remain far apart on the
   Syrian issue.

   Iran's top national security official, Ali Shamkhani, said the U.S. and
   its allies have been fighting for three years to get the Assad
   government to surrender. All the Western powers have achieved in that
   time, Shamkhani said during a visit to Islamabad, is a refugee crisis,
   a terrorism crisis and extensive damage to Syria's infrastructure.

   At this point, the Iranian official told reporters in Pakistan: "They
   have come to the conclusion that the Iranian point is right about
   seeking a political solution to the problem."

   U.S. diplomats do not expect a definitive conclusion to the talks this
   week. Instead, they expect there will be further rounds of meetings
   about Syria's political future.

   Vienna is the first stop for Kerry on a trip that also will take him
   for the first time to Central Asian capitals - to Bishkek in
   Kyrgyzstan; Samarkand, Uzbekistan; Astana, Kazakhstan; Dushanbe,
   Tajikistan; and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

   Ayaz Gul in Islamabad was among a number of VOA reporters contributing
   to this story.
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   on-syria-as-talks-begin/3027650.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/international-players-seek-consensus-on-syria-as-talks-begin/3027650.html