Syrian minister calls talks on Assad's departure

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Friday that any talks about the departure of President Bashar al-Assad are a "black political comedy," the official SANA news agency reported. The minister said the Syrian delegation will not hand over the power to the oppositional Syrian National Coalition (SNC) but will negotiate a political solution. Al-Zoubi made the remarks in Geneva where the Syrian delegation and the representatives of the SNC are to kick off a one-week dialogue expected to settle their conflict. He said talks about Assad's departure falls in the framework of a "black political comedy" and reflect the state of confusion the other party is having. The Syrian delegation met with UN Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi and the atmosphere was positive, according to SANA, while Brahimi will talk with the opposition at 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), according to UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci in Geneva. The Geneva II conference on Syria opened on Wednesday in Montreux, Switzerland, where the opening speeches showed deep conflicts between the two sides. The Syrian government delegation demands that the Geneva II focus on combating terrorism, while the SNC wants the meeting to result in a transitional Syrian government without any role for Assad