‘US-led assault on Raqqah unlawful if not coordinated with Damascus’

Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja’afari has stressed that any US- or Turkish-backed military offensive against the militant-held northern city of Raqqah must be coordinated with the Syrian government otherwise it would be illegitimate.

Countries backing militant groups in Syria, such as Britain, France, Turkey and Qatar, are sponsors of terrorism, and the escalated fighting between government forces and Takfiri terrorists on the outskirts of Damascus is designed to disrupt the UN-sponsored Syria peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva and those in the Kazakh city of Astana, Ja’afari told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

“All the terrorist attacks, as I said, are pushing everybody towards a total failure and fiasco in the political and diplomatic process,” he pointed out.

The Syrian chief negotiator emphasized that his delegation would never walk away from the ongoing peace talks in Geneva.

Ja’afari questioned the airstrikes of the US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh terror group, saying only Syrian troops are fighting terrorists with the help of Russia and Iran.

The fifth round of Syria talks kicked off in Geneva on Thursday. The deputy UN special envoy for Syria, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, separately met representatives from the Damascus government and the main opposition delegation, the High Negotiations Committee.

Ramzy said he had held preliminary talks with each side and hoped to begin "substantive discussions" on Friday.

UN Special Envoy for Syria joined Geneva peace talks on Friday.

De Mistura is trying to mediate a political agreement between Syria's warring sides. The two sides have not had face-to-face meetings in four previous rounds under his auspices since early 2016. He has presided over all those rounds.

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces have seized all areas near Jobar neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, forcing foreign-backed terrorists to retreat.

The development came as US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militants reached one side of Tabqa dam - most commonly known as the Euphrates Dam - about 40 kilometers west of Raqqah.

On Tuesday, US military aircraft air-dropped members of the SDF - a Kurdish-dominated and anti-Damascus alliance - near Tabqa, providing air support for them to retake the dam.

Earlier this month, US Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US-led anti-Daesh coalition, said talks were underway with Turkey on the role Ankara might play in the operation to liberate Raqqah.

Washington currently has about 500 Special Operations troops in Syria. However, their activities have been limited to what the Pentagon describes as training and assisting Kurdish forces in their battle against Daesh and other terrorist groups.

Recently, General Joseph L. Votel, the commander of the US Central Command, said more American troops might be needed in Syria to step up their so-called campaign against Daesh.

Turkey's Hurriyet Daily newspaper reported in early February that Turkish military chief Hulusi Akar had presented his American counterpart, Joseph Dunford, with two plans for a potential operation said to liberate Raqqah.

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