1st meeting between Syrian govt., opposition to open Sunday in Tehran

TEHRAN,Nov.18(MNA) – The first meeting between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition members is scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m. at Tehran’s Esteghlal Hotel Sunday. The Syrian “national dialogue” meeting will bring together about 200 Syrian figures, including religious leaders, party leaders, political figures, tribal chiefs, and representatives of Syrian opposition groups. According to the report, a number of Syrian MPs will be attending the meeting whose motto is “No to Violence, Yes to Democracy”. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is scheduled to deliver the opening speech of the meeting, in which representatives from Sudan, Algeria, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq will also be present. The Syrian minister of state for national reconciliation, Ali Haidar, arrived in the Iranian capital on Thursday to participate in the meeting. Tehran hosted a consultative meeting on Syria on August 9. Delegates from Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Benin, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and the United Nations attended the Tehran meeting, which was chaired by the Iranian foreign minister.