A powerful Islamist insurgent group said it pulled out of a Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh on Thursday because rebel proposals had been ignored, in a move which highlighted the enduring divisions among President Bashar al-Assad’s enemies.
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According to the agreement, Mr Al Assad must step down at the start of a transition period set out last month by top diplomats.
Saudi Arabia is a financial and diplomatic backer of the Syrian opposition fighting to oust al-Assad.
“We appreciate that this extremely diverse group of Syrians put aside differences in the interest of building a new Syria”, he said in a Thursday statement.
Russian Federation has slammed a statement by the foreign-backed Syrian opposition calling on President Bashar al-Assad to quit, saying only the Syrian nation should decide the fate of the president.
Rebels have often disagreed on the future of Syria.
The Syrian opposition figures meeting in Riyadh are trying to form a unified front ahead of proposed peace talks with the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
A team of opposition and rebel delegates will meet the Syrian government early next month, the chairman of an opposition conference held in Riyadh said on Friday.
The latest developments come with US Secretary of State John Kerry due in Moscow Tuesday in a new bid to push for a peace plan to end Syria’s almost five-year conflict.
Ahrar al-Sham had agreed to attend the Riyadh talks despite the “lack of representation of jihadist factions at a level matching their… role” on the ground in Syria.
In addition, it said “revolutionary groups” were inadequately represented. The upcoming meeting at the U.N.is tentatively set for December 18, and Kerry says it will be dependent on the answers to his questions. However, Kirby said the group did participate in the negotiations.
“Within a specific timeframe that would be agreed on with the United Nations”, said a statement issued after two days of talks between a range of armed and political opposition groups in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Meanwhile, Islamic State claimed a triple truck bomb attack that killed dozens of people in a part of northeastern Syria where Kurdish YPG forces have been pushing back the Islamist militants in recent weeks. “So we would very much view them as being part of this consensus agreement”, Kirby said.
Participants appeared to have reached a compromise by agreeing to hold talks without Assad s immediate departure but insisting he step down later.
Assad told EFE that Saudi Arabia, the US and some Western countries “want terrorist groups to join the negotiations table”.
Syria’s complex conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests but billowed into an all-out war after a crackdown by the authorities.
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“If I think that I can help my country, especially in a crisis, and the Syrian people still support me – I don’t say the Syrian people; the majority of the Syrian people to be more precise – of course I have to stay”, Assad said.
