The High Negotiation Committee, Syria’s main opposition bloc, on Wednesday will present a peace plan in which embattled President Bashar al-Assad would be required to step down during a transitional period starting after six months.
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LONDON – Syria’s opposition set out detailed plans on Wednesday for the transition to a democratic state without President Bashar al-Assad, ahead of talks with ministers of the EU, US and regional powers in London.
However, efforts are still going on behind the scenes and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in London on Tuesday that an agreement was possible within 24 hours. “What then? What follows Assad?”
Turkey sent tanks into Syria on August 24 as part of the so-called Euphrates Shield operation aimed at ousting Islamic State fighters and halting an advance by Syrian Kurdish forces, which Ankara sees as allies of the outlawed PKK that’s been waging a 30-year insurgency inside Turkey.
A day of intense airstrikes Saturday on and around the northern city of Aleppo killed at least 45 people, according to opposition activists.
Key to the deal is the delivery of desperately needed aid to civilians in rebel-held areas of Syria’s second city Aleppo which are under siege by government forces.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has endorsed a political transition plan for Syria proposed by opposition groups.
“It calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body to protect the country’s unity, safeguarding the state and its institutions, promoting the principles of freedom, equality and citizenship”.
Kerry, who called in at the meeting, said there is a “new map being drawn up between the USA and Russia” that would require the Syrian government not to fly over territory controlled by moderate rebels; areas where there are civilians; and regions with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham fighters, Bays reported.
Hijab said the greatest challenge in achieving political transition came from the worldwide community, pointing the finger at Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, other regional militias, and above all, Russian Federation for protecting Assad. “But then the Russians are also employing their military muscle to prevent him from losing and to keep him in power”.
The Syrian government delegation, as well as three opposition groups – the Riyadh-formed HNC, the Moscow-Cairo and the Hmeimim groups – have been taking part in UN-mediated Geneva talks on the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
“We are supporting the process, although we want a genuine ceasefire”, he said.
The two powers have been negotiating in recent days but have failed so far to reach an agreement.
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The United Nations on Wednesday announced that intense fighting between Syrian government troops and rebels in the Hama province in central Syria had displaced 100,000 people in a single week between late August and early September. Mosques and schools had been converted to emergency shelters.
