ICC Note: Christians in Syria look to the scheduled peace talks between Damascus and the Government Opposition forces with a glimmer as hope, having suffered extreme violence from both sides. Many Christians living in Syria now are there as hostages and slaves of ISIS who has used the Civil War as an opportunity to create a foothold within Syria. The talks had been stalled due to disagreements over which groups represented the “Opposition” forces in Syria.  Talks will exclude ISIS elements and Syria, as well as the Islamic terrorist group, Al-Nusra. 

1/25/2016 Syria (BBC News) – Direct talks between Damascus and the Syrian opposition will begin on January 29, the UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has told journalists in Geneva. The peace talks will focus on a broad ceasefire, stopping Islamic State militants and increasing aid, he added.

Mistura said the process of finalizing the list of participants “is still ongoing,” particularly regarding clarification of the opposition groups which will not be considered “terrorist.”

He added that the UN will start sending invitations on Tuesday. “I’m going to send the invitations given by the mandate of the UN Security Council,” he said.

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