Syria’s opposition wants a political transition without President Bashar al-Assad, the coordinator of an opposition negotiating body in future peace talks said on Friday.
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The importance of the meeting was underscored by a United Nations report December 17 that the Syrian conflict likely drove the number of refugees and displaced persons in the world to a new record of over 60 million this year. The strikes are focused on more moderate forces fighting Assad in areas where the Islamic State group has little or no presence.
“Despite the important step that we have taken with today’s resolution, despite the progress we have made in Vienna, despite the important steps forward taken at the meeting in Riyadh, there is still a very long way to go”.
The resolution passed at the United Nations in NY on Friday foresees talks between the Syrian government and opposition in early January.
While Russia and the United States appeared to be getting closer to a meeting of minds over Syria, Iran continued to raise objections, particularly to a Saudi effort last week to organize opposition groups into a single delegation to negotiate with Assad.
During a break in Friday’s talks, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he had presented a document compiling the groups each country attending considered to be a “terrorist” organization. “Some countries sent 15 to 20, others sent more”, he told reporters.
“The only sustainable solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people”, it said.
“We have emphasised from the beginning that for this to work it has to be implemented by the men and women of Syria and can not be opposed from the outside”, Kerry said.
The resolution, reviewed by The New York Times, makes no mention of whether or not Assad would be able to run for office in new elections, which the resolution says must be held in the next 18 months.
One possible obstacle in the proposal is that it doesn’t specify which rebel group or groups would be allowed to represent the opposition in peace talks with the Assad regime. “Without a cease-fire, peace talks can not continue to produce results”, he said.
“We still haven’t seen any acceptable list of names of opposition and terrorist groups in Syria”, he noted.
The resolution would be a rare gesture of unity in a Security Council that has been bitterly divided on Syria.
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Western countries have called for his departure, but Russian Federation and China say he should not be required to leave power as a precondition for peace talks.
