Opposition and government to stop war in Syria Friday, Jan. 24

Photo: AP photo

Sergei Lavrov announced that representatives of the regime of Bashar Assad and the opposition will sit at the table of negotiations at Geneva-2 conference in Montreux on Friday January 24th, NBC News said.

UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, former Foreign Minister of Algeria, said on Wednesday at a press conference that in his opinion, representatives of the official Damascus and the Syrian opposition had sufficiently demonstrated their willingness to discuss the exchange of POWs, access to humanitarian aid and localized cease-fire.

" Let's see what happens. On Friday morning, we will meet separately, and in the afternoon, I hope, we will sit in one room. The main thing is to start," said Lavrov. Sergei Lavrov had meetings with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Wednesday, as well as with opposition leader Ahmed Jarboe.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called on both sides to end the conflict that turned Syria "into a hotbed for foreign extremists and terrorists." According to media reports, Ban Ki-moon joined the fray with Moallem on Wednesday due to the fact that the Syrian was speaking too long. "I have a right to share my point of view about what is happening in my country after the suffering that we had to endure," said the politician. The UN Secretary-General found this statement provocative.