Syria’s disparate opposition groups early yesterday announced an agreement to send a united delegation to next week’s UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, as international diplomatic efforts intensify to end the six-year conflict.
The announcement came on the second day of a meeting in Riyadh, where about 140 opposition figures are gathered to unify their ranks before direct talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Tuesday next week.
Several rounds of talks hosted by the UN have failed to bring an end to the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 330,000 people since 2011 and forced millions from their homes.
Photo: AFP
“We have agreed with the groups here in Riyadh, along with the Cairo and Moscow platforms, to form one united delegation to participate in the Geneva talks,” Syrian opposition member Bassma Kodmani told reporters in Riyadh.
Further meetings were to be held yesterday to finalize the names and number of representatives each group would have in the 50-strong unified delegation, Kodmani added.
The delegates at the meeting have been under heavy pressure to pull back some of their more radical demands after a series of battlefield victories that have given al-Assad’s regime the upper hand.
A Cairo-based Syrian opposition group on Thursday agreed to join ranks with other opposition clusters, including the Saudi Arabian-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) — the largest bloc in the opposition — and the Istanbul, Turkey-based National Coalition.
After prolonged discussions that dragged into the night, a Moscow-based Syrian opposition group also appeared to have joined forces with that delegation.
However, there were still lingering differences.
The HNC and its closest allies maintained their long-standing demand that al-Assad step down from power as a prerequisite for a transitional phase to end the Syrian war, prompting “reservations” from the Moscow group, Kodami said.
Several key opposition figures boycotted the meeting, including former Syrian prime minister Riyad Hijab of the HNC.
Hijab stepped down as leader of the Saudi Arabian-backed HNC this week over “attempts to lower the ceiling of the revolution and prolong the regime.”
Al-Assad’s fate has been a major stumbling block in multiple rounds of negotiations between the Syrian regime and the opposition.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s Syria envoy, on Wednesday attended the opening session of the Riyadh gathering and said the goal of the meeting was to give momentum to next week’s peace talks.
The Riyadh talks come as Syrian regime ally Russia is seeking to organize a “congress” to bring together al-Assad’s forces and various opposition groups to reinvigorate the hobbled peace process.
However, Kodmani remained noncommittal about the opposition’s participation, saying no dates or goals had been laid out for the Russian conference.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the leaders of Iran and Turkey for a key trilateral summit aimed at finding a political settlement of Syria’s conflict. He also met with al-Assad this week.
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