Paris to host talks on integrating Kurdish administration into Syrian state
The Kurds, who control large swathes of northeast Syria, are negotiating with the central government in Damascus on the integration of their civil and military institutions into the state.
Those include the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The three countries "agreed on the need... to host as soon as possible the next round of consultations in Paris between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces regarding the full implementation of the March 10 agreement", according to a joint statement.
The statement was issued after a Friday meeting in Paris between French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack and Damascus's top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani.
In March, SDF chief Mazloum Abdi and Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed an agreement aimed at incorporating Kurdish institutions into the Syrian state.
Several rounds of talks have been held but the process has stalled, with Kurdish officials criticising a constitutional declaration announced by the new authorities, saying it failed to reflect Syria's diversity.
The Islamist authorities in Damascus, who took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, have repeatedly rejected calls for a "decentralised" government that would let the Kurds and other groups maintain some level of autonomy.
A meeting was set to take place in Paris on Thursday between Kurdish representatives and a Syrian government delegation, but it was postponed.
Barrot held a phone call on Friday with the SDF's Abdi, Paris said, to "confirm the upcoming negotiations session".
Damascus insists on reunifying the country at any cost and demands that the Kurds hand over their weapons.
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But on Wednesday SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami told Al-Yaum TV that disarmament is a "red line".
"No one is surrendering in Syria. Those betting on our capitulation will lose – the tragic events have made that clear," he added, referring to recent sectarian violence in the southern Druze heartland of Sweida which left nearly 1,400 dead according to a monitor.
A Syrian government source told state broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya that "talking about refusing to hand over weapons or maintaining an autonomous military force is completely unacceptable".
Friday's joint statement stressed the need to "ensure the success of Syria's transition" and the importance of "efforts aimed at national reconciliation and cohesion, especially in northeastern Syria and Sweida".
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