Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country has been among Assad’s strongest backers, said last month that peace talks for Syria can not go ahead until all parties involved agree on which groups should be listed as terrorists and which are legitimate opposition.
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Charles Lister, a fellow at the Brookings Institute Doha, reported sources in Riyadh as saying that the body had been expanded to 33 after an extra seat was added for the armed opposition, leaving them with a third of the total votes. Participants also agreed on the need to safeguard state institutions while restructuring the security forces.
“Whenever they want to change their approach, give up the armaments, we are ready…while to deal with them as a political entity, this is something we completely refuse”, he said in response to another question about whether he would be willing to negotiate with opposition groups that met in Riyadh this week. The entrance was blocked by armored vehicles and watched by snipers. 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.
A meeting with representatives of the Syrian regime is now planned for January.
“The outcome is somewhat positive… but it is fragile and the process can collapse at any time”, he said.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said, however, that Ahrar al-Sham “were at the conference today” and that the US considered them one of the 116 participants that formed a consensus. It stated the reason that top key roles had been given to the National Coordination Committee and other figures, considered supporters of the Assad regime.
Assad said organizations considered to be “terrorist around the world, like ISIS (Islamic State) or al-Nusra”, have hundreds of millions of dollars and “a almost full army like any other state”, a situation he said was only possible due to the direct support of countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“As I said before, Bashar Assad has two solutions: Leave through negotiations, which is easier and better for all”. The faction argued the organisers of the conference had refused to emphasise the Muslim identity of the Syrian people.
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The comments drew a sharp response from Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi in Damascus, who called al-Jubeir’s statements a “farce”. There is a possibility that Syrian peace talks will be held in NY on December 18 but the date is “not locked” yet, Kerry said. “I advise you to take care of issues your own size”.
