ISTANBUL (Reuters) – – The Western-backed Syrian opposition agreed to participate in international peace talks in Geneva, the Syrian National Coalition said in a statement early on Monday. The statement, translated from Arabic, outlined conditions that must be met before the talks, which aim to end Syria’s two-and-a-half year civil war, by creating a transitional governing body. The Syrian National Coalition’s leader has expressed a willingness to attend the U.S. and Russian sponsored talks but this is the first time the group as a whole has committed to the proposed conference, while making stipulations. It was hoped that the talks would take place before the end of November but the Syrian coalition’s failure to come up with a clear stance, as well as differences between Washington and Moscow over the purpose of the talks and opposition representation made delays likely. The coalition held that previous commitments, such as the […]