The conference in Saudi Arabia of political activists and rebel groups agreed to set up a joint body to prepare for proposed peace talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
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The Syrian opposition groups met for two days of talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh to try to build a united front.
Syria’s main opposition groups agreed at unprecedented talks Thursday to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime but insisted he must step down at the start of a political transition.
“Some of the terrorist groups linked to Islamic State are involved in the [Riyadh] talks”, he said.
The stakes were high for the Riyadh meeting, during which the disparate and often competing opposition factions were held to a tight deadline to agree on the outlines of a political solution to the crisis and choose representatives for the talks.
But in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE, Assad said he would not hold political talks with any armed groups, and accused Washington and its ally Saudi Arabia of wanting “terrorist groups” to join negotiations.
Delegates from Islamist insurgent groups, exiled political opposition figures and Damascus-based activists gathered to bridge differences which have plagued previous attempts to unite Assad’s opponents around a common strategy.
Syria’s almost five-year-old conflict has left more than 250,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.
Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that he welcomed “the positive outcome” of the Riyadh gathering, saying it would “bring us closer to starting negotiations between the Syrian parties”.
In a statement, the group of rebels said the aim was to proceed without Assad.
Ahrar al-Sham, which has a controversial record in terms of alleged human rights abuses and links to al-Qaeda, has been described as a “radical” and “sometimes even a terrorism” group by Russian and Iranian officials.
What do you make of Riyadh actually holding this meeting?
Separately, a listing of names the factions drew up in Riyadh showed armed rebel groups would compose the largest single group in a combined Syrian opposition body that would oversee talks with Assad’s government.
Although they all say Assad ultimately must go, they have been less specific about the timing of any departures, indicating that they could accept his staying on in an interim period.
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“The fate of Assad should be discussed by Syrians themselves, not Russia”, Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
