Syrians pray for 'miracle' at peace talks in Geneva

Exhausted by the devastating war that has asphyxiated Syria's capital, residents of Damascus pray that this week's Geneva 2 peace talks will produce a "miracle" that can silence the guns.

Ahead of the talks, the army's bombardment of rebel-held suburbs of the city, and opposition mortar fire on its center, have been less frequent.

And in the streets of the Old City and elsewhere, there is a rare semblance of normality.

Citizens go about their daily lives, youngsters take photos in front of the famed Ummayad mosque and a vendor peddles souvenir pictures of President Bashar al-Assad and his ally Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

But weariness shows on people's faces when they are asked about a solution to the conflict that has ravaged their country for nearly three years, killing more than 130,000 people, according to international observers.

"Geneva? It would take a divine miracle for it to succeed," said Akram, who sells beans in the historic neighborhood of Bab Touma.

"Neither one side nor the other wants to make concessions," he added, referring to the government and to the opposition, which voted on Saturday to attend the talks.

Assad's government has said regularly that his departure from office will not be on the table, even though this is the opposition's main demand.

Akram's hopes are more simple.

"What we want before anything else is security. If there isn't a cease-fire, we'll never get anywhere," he said as pro-government militiamen patrolled nearby.

"Let them talk for months, but I want to sleep in peace," the 35-year-old added, bemoaning the economic ruin the war has brought.

"We used to export wheat and flour. Now we're importing it from Lebanon and Iran."

Bab Touma, a majority Christian district, is now home to Syrians of all faiths who have come from across the war-torn country.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 01/22/2014 page11)