A peace plan agreed to last month by world powers meeting in Vienna set a January 1 deadline for the start of talks between Assad’s government and opposition groups.
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“Bashar al-Assad has two solutions: leave through negotiations, which is easier and better for all”, he said.
Despite Ahrar al-Sham’s withdrawal, the statement was eventually signed by all the participants, Press TV reported.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef met representatives of the armed groups taking part in the talks on Tuesday and told them the kingdom insists on Assad’s departure, Syrian opposition sources said. If Ahrar al-Sham stayed outside the deal, its absence would make any such ceasefire much harder to implement.
But it operates only in northern Syria, and is distrusted by other rebel groups, which shut it out of the Riyadh conference along with the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, fighting alongside other rebels against Assad in western Syria.
Assad said his military position had improved in the fight against insurgent groups in the almost five-year war, but acknowledged that it was taking its toll.
In Tehran, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said his country does not approve the oppositions’ meeting in Riyadh.
The opposition groups called on the United Nations and global community to force the regime to take “goodwill measures” before negotiations can begin. Participants also committed to a political system which “represents all sectors of the Syrian people”, and would not discriminate on religious or sectarian grounds – in a gesture towards minority Alawite, Christian and Kurdish populations.
“There are some questions and obviously a couple of, in our judgement, kinks to be worked out and I’m confident they’re going to be worked out”, said John Kerry, US Secretary of State.
A mooted December 18 meeting to advance Syrian peace talks was “not locked in yet”, according to Kerry, with stakeholders waiting for the outcome of this week’s conference in Saudi Arabia. However, he cautioned, “We recognize the hard work ahead”.
“Only the people of Syria can decide the future of their country”, he added.
The disparate groups agreed on a common framework following two days of talks in Riyadh.
The conference agreed on Wednesday that Assad and his lieutenants should play no part in a transition to democracy.
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…
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A list of 34 members of a secretariat designated to select the opposition’s negotiating team contained 11 representatives of rebel fighting groups, nine members of the exiled political opposition, six from Syria’s internal opposition and eight independents.
