International Peace Conference: Bashar Assad

Bashar Assad: BEIRUT - Syria's government Friday proposed a cease-fire in the embattled city of Aleppo and a prisoner exchange with the opposition, a move that appeared aimed at presenting President Bashar Assad as a responsible partner less than a week before an international peace conference. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The opposition Syrian National Coalition has yet to decide whether it will attend the peace talks scheduled to open Wednesday in the Swiss city of Montreux. Members of the coalition gathered Friday in Istanbul to vote on the group's participation, but the start of the meeting was delayed for at least 10 hours after dozens of representatives refused to show up. Secretary of State John Kerry talks about Syria, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014, at the State Department in Washington. Kerry urged the Syrian opposition to attend a conference next week in Switzerland aimed at finding a political resolution to the civil war there, which has claimed more than 120,000 lives. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Assad's opponents were skeptical about the offer, which was floated by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem during a visit to Moscow. A member of the main Western-backed opposition dismissed the government overture as "last-minute manoeuvring" to please Damascus' Russian allies, while a rebel commander in Aleppo described such a truce in the civil war as nearly impossible. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.