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Syrian Rebel Delegation Will Not Attend Kazakhstan Talks

by Reuters

   AMMAN / BEIRUT --

   Syrian rebels cast doubt on Monday over whether they would attend
   Russian-backed talks in Kazakhstan this week, accusing Moscow of
   failing to get the
   Damascus government to fully comply with a ceasefire agreement
   or to implement goodwill gestures such as a prisoner release.
   The Kazakh government said on Saturday it had invited Syrian government
   and rebel delegations to a meeting on Feb. 15-16. The sides attended a
   similar, indirect meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana last month.
   Mohammad Al Aboud, a senior rebel official, said the delegation would
   not attend. "There were violations in the cease-fire and the Russians
   did not live up to their promises to halt these violations," Al Aboud
   told Reuters.
   A second rebel official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at
   most a handful of rebels might attend, but only if progress was seen in
   the next two days. "The (whole) delegation will not go," he said.