Unknown if agreement can be reached in Geneva at all

Having representatives from both the Syrian regime and the opposition coalition in the same room is "not a small thing" three years into a conflict, even if they are not talking to each other directly, said a senior U.S. official on Friday. "I don't know if we'll have an agreement out of Geneva or not. I really do not know," said the State Department official, who provided a background briefing on the talks and asked not to be identified. Geneva II wrapped up on Thursday without bringing the Syrian conflict closer to a resolution. The senior official explained that the U.S. does not doubt the commitment of the United Nations or Russia in bringing the Syrian regime to the next meeting, but Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem "has a hard case to defend." "I would just say I find Minister Muallem's reluctance to make a commitment telling," he noted. "Name-calling and insulting the delegation that represented the Syrian people, the Syrian opposition forces coalition, at Montreux, calling them names, calling some of their individual members names, both behind closed doors as well as in public, that, to me, is the mark of genuine immaturity." "Only one of the two sides stooped, fell to that level," he added. "Some of the things which the Syrian delegation has accused us of doing are rather ridiculous but, frankly, don't even rise to the level where they merit a response." Regular meetings between the Russians and the U.S. are occurring daily, confirmed the official - who is in Geneva - and there may be signs their attitudes are shifting, particularly as they get ready to host Syrian National Coalition (SNC) President Ahmad Jarba on Sunday. "They had received Foreign Minister Muallem two weeks ago; now they're seeing Jarba," he said. "That to me indicates that the Russian side also recognizes that the opposition forces coalition also has a role to play in resolving the Syrian conflict." However thus far, only 90 countries have recognized the SNC as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. "It's not really for the Americans to decide whether or not they are legitimate," stressed the official. "There have been a lot of messages from Syrians inside Syria as well as Syrians outside saying that the delegations, in particular the speech that Jarba gave at Montreux, got extremely got reviews. There has been at least a surge of hope among Syrians -- we see this reflected, for example, in social media networks -- that perhaps there is a way out of this conflict." Highlighting Jarba's address, the official said he heard one thing that he's never heard from the Syrian government. "Jarba specifically reached out to some communities who have what I think are genuine fears about the future and laid out a vision for them," he stated. "That mothers who lose their children fighting on behalf of the uprising and mothers who lose their children fighting on behalf of the regime, all of those mothers and all of those children are Syrians." "I was very glad to hear it," he added. And although matters relating to the destruction of chemical weapons were not discussed at Geneva II, the regime is said to be "seriously behind on the timetable" as only 5 percent of the material has been moved. "There is a credibility issue for the Syrian government, whether it be with respect to chemical weapons and whether or not it would implement any deal that was ever reached here in Geneva, if we do get to a deal," remarked the official. He also said the U.S. recognizes that the regime has links to terrorist groups that claimed to be fighting alongside the rebels. "We have seen what appear to be credible reports in newspapers such as the British Guardian about deals between the regime and Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in Syria concerning the sale of petroleum products," he noted. "It is a known fact the regime has declined to hit the headquarters of the Al-Qaeda linked groups but they've hit plenty of other targets belonging to other armed groups." "I do not want to go beyond saying that there is a curious selection process apparently in the way that the Syrian air force and military forces are choosing their priority targets," he explained. The next round of talks is expected on February 10, but it remains unclear if the Assad regime will attend. "I wish that the Syrian government had engaged in a more substantive way to the ideas put forward by the opposition forces coalition this week on how a transition governing body might be established, but they didn't," expressed the official. "We hope for a more substantive discussion in round two, but how long that's going to take I don't know. This will be a long process that requires a lot of persistence on the part of the parties and the international community, " he concluded.