At the end of talks hosted by Riyadh for Syrian opposition groups, participants said the committee will assign a delegation to negotiate with the Assad regime.
Advertisement
A final statement said President Bashar al-Assad should leave power at the start of a transitional period and called for a democratic, all-inclusive state.
The opposition was willing to enter talks with Syrian government representatives and to accept a Un supervised ceasefire, the statement added.
Other armed groups attending had committed “treason to the sacrifices made by the Syrian people” in the almost five-year-old civil war, Joulani said.
President Vladimir Putin on Friday vowed to further modernize Russian arsenals and said that its military in Syria will “immediately destroy” any target threatening them, a strong warning to Turkey following its…
The opposition groups called on the United Nations and worldwide community to force the regime to take “goodwill measures” before negotiations can begin, including an end to indiscriminate bombing and sieges on rebel-held areas, the entry of humanitarian aid, the release of political detainees and a halt to executions.
A vast range of rebel groups agreed to the framework at a two-day meeting in the Saudi capital that ended Thursday, marking a step forward for Syria’s badly fragmented opposition.
Assad noted that he would negotiate with a genuine Syrian opposition but that armed groups would have to lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty.
Several opposition sources told France 24 that the group later re-entered the discussion and reportedly signed up to the agreement.
In the Jordanian press, Tariq Masarwah of Al-Rai says the absence of key Kurdish and Islamist groups undermines the credibility of the Riyadh meeting.
Differences also remain between the groups that did attend, with many fighters considering Damascus-based political opposition figures to be too close to Assad – the same reason the YPG was excluded.
They were Assad’s first comments since Syrian opposition groups including armed rebels met in Saudi Arabia this week to draw up a common platform for negotiations.
The talks in Saudi Arabia resulted from a plan agreed to last month by 20 world powers meeting in Vienna.
“Or he will have to leave through fighting, because the Syrian people refuse to allow this regime and person to stay in power”.
Advertisement
Syria’s complex conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests but billowed into an all-out war after a crackdown by the authorities.
