REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MONTREUX - Syria's government and its enemies come face to face on Wednesday for the first time as world powers try to set aside their own differences and push for an end to three years of civil war that is unsettling the entire Middle East.
A day of formal speeches under US auspices at a hotel on Lake Geneva has raised no great expectations, particularly among opposition group on Syria's frontlines who have branded Western-backed opposition leaders as traitors for even agreeing to be in the same room as President Bashar al-Assad's delegates.
United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi hopes Wednesday's first day at Montreux's Palace Hotel can lead to detailed discussions down the lake in Geneva from Friday. UN diplomats believe the talks could initially bring at least some relief for Syrian civilians, by improving aid flows, as well as setting up prisoner exchanges.
Assad's representatives may highlight the threat to the West and its Arab allies from al Qaeda and other militants fighting his forces. But Western leaders say they fully back opposition demands that Assad step down, something they say was the conclusion of a UN conference in Geneva 18 months ago.
A flap over a now withdrawn last-minute invitation to Iran, Assad's main ally, highlighted tensions between the West and Russia and the sectarian rift in the Middle East between Sunni Arabs who support the rebels and the Shi'ite rulers in Tehran.
The release on the eve of the talks of thousands of photographs apparently showing prisoners tortured and killed by the government reinforced opposition demands that Assad must quit and face a war crimes trial. The president, who succeeded his father 14 years ago, insists he can win re-election and wants to talk about fighting "terrorism."
Despite some differences, Washington and Moscow share alarm at the spread of the violence that has already killed more than 130,000 Syrians. Having set aside their differences last year to co-sponsor the talks that are finally getting under way, Russia and the United States profess an urgent common goal of halting the bloodshed.
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