Ahrar al-Sham, a Saudi-backed ultraconservative group that operates mainly in northern Syria, said in a statement that it was withdrawing also because the conference failed to “confirm the Muslim identity of our people”.
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Some groups with links to Daesh (Islamic State in Arabic) were in the meeting, and the terrorists will never be allowed to decide the future of Syria, he was quoted by Iranian Students’ news agency (ISNA) as saying.
Earlier, Ahrar al-Sham said it had withdrawn from the Riyadh conference because of the “main role” accorded to “personalities linked to the regime” – an apparent reference to members of the National Co-ordination Committee – and the inadequate representation of “revolutionary factions”.
A peace plan agreed last month by 20 nations meeting in Vienna set a January 1 deadline for the start of talks between Assad’s government and opposition groups.
Syrian opposition groups on Thursday agreed to discourse with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a potentially momentous step toward peace during a years-long civil war that has devastated the region.
“It is not in line with the Vienna talks”, Amirabdollahian said.
It includes 11 representatives of rebel fighting groups, according to the list of names proposed for the body seen by Reuters, making armed factions the biggest single grouping.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has two choices, “either to leave through negotiations” or be forcibly removed from power, the Saudi foreign minister said on Thursday, arguing that the Syrian people would not accept any other outcomes.
The meeting is an important step to activate the unified stance of Syrian opposition in order to reach a framework for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, said Ahmed Abu Zeid, the Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
On the issue of Assad, the Syrian Democratic Council said Assad was both part of the problem and solution.
The opposition groups called on the United Nations and worldwide community to force the regime to take “goodwill measures” before negotiations can begin.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Paris, said the Riyadh talks appeared to be “very constructive” and making progress.
Military groups will be represented by Western-backed Free Syrian Army groups in the north and the south of the country, with eight representatives. Despite its signing on, the brief withdrawal nonetheless reveals deep divisions within the opposition that could impact negotiations with the regime and worldwide powers.
The Syrian delegates underlined the need to safeguard the territorial integrity of their country and reiterated their conviction that Syria has to remain an all-inclusive, civic, and sovereign state based on a federal structure.
Those groups also agreed to form a delegation that would represent the opposition in future negotiations aimed at achieving a political solution to the Syrian conflict, which erupted in March 2011.
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Some diplomats say local cease-fires may be the most effective way of gradually bringing peace to Syria, where more than 250,000 people have been killed during almost five years of conflict.
