DUBAI. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Damascus has decided to take part in the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva following talks with Russia, the Syrian state news agency SANA said.
"Following intensive contacts held over the past two days between the Syrian and Russian sides, the Syrian Arab Republic has decided to participate in the eighth round of the intra-Syrian dialogue," SANA quoted a Syrian Foreign Ministry source as saying.
The government delegation to the Geneva talks will be led by Syrian Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari, it said.
The Syrian government delegation had postponed its trip to Geneva to join the eighth round of the intra-Syrian talks scheduled to begin November 28 because of the opposition's demand that President Bashar al-Assad resign before the start of a political transition. This demand was included in the final document of a conference in Riyadh, at which the opposition created a united delegation for the Geneva talks.
A Syrian Foreign Ministry source said on Tuesday that UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura had reaffirmed that the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva must be held without preconditions.