Syrian Regime’s Preconditions Threaten Geneva Talks

Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, briefs the Security Council, via video conference. (UN)
Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, briefs the Security Council, via video conference. (UN)
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Syrian Regime’s Preconditions Threaten Geneva Talks

Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, briefs the Security Council, via video conference. (UN)
Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, briefs the Security Council, via video conference. (UN)

Mystery surrounded on Monday the participation of the Syrian regime delegation in the fresh intra-Syrian talks expected to kick off in Geneva on Tuesday.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told a Security Council meeting in New York via video link from Geneva that the regime has not yet confirmed its participation in the new round of the UN-facilitated Geneva talks.

"Assuming that both parties arrive in Geneva, we will be looking to move them into beginning serious discussions and hopefully negotiations. Let me make one thing clear: we will not accept any preconditions from either party,” he added.

Arab sources said on Monday that the regime delegation had objected the Second Syrian Opposition Conference in Riyadh, which expressed the opposition’s readiness to discuss all issues in Geneva “without any preconditions.”

The sources added that any delay in the arrival of the regime delegation might threaten the Geneva operation.

Meanwhile, the US Defense Department said on Monday it is reviewing the process it uses to provide equipment and weapons to Kurdish fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but it has not halted sending weapons.

“The department is reviewing pending adjustments to the military support provided to our Kurdish partners,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning told reporters.

The announcement came as Turkey’s Defense Minister Nurettin Cankili said on Monday that a military raid is imminent on Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) members in Syria’s northern city of Afrin, next Wednesday or Thursday.

Moscow also announced on Monday the possibility of imposing a temporary ceasefire in the "de-escalation" zone in Syria's eastern Ghouta on November 28 and 29.

Russia also postponed the Syrian National Dialogue Conference planned in the city of Sochi.

"Preparations for the congress are currently underway. It will not be held until January, but most likely in February," Russian news agency RIA Novosti said citing a diplomatic source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.