Speaking alongside the HNC’s general co-ordinator Riyad Hijab at the Foreign Office, Mr Johnson said: “I hope that their plan is studied by as many people as possible around the world and of course particularly in Syria, because they after all are the people who are at the forefront of our concerns and it’s for them that this meeting has been held this afternoon”.
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Syria’s main opposition negotiating group would reject any deal struck by Russian Federation and the United States on Syria’s fate that was very different from its own proposed transition plan, the group’s general coordinator Riyad Hijab said on Wednesday.
Our correspondent noted, however, that it was unlikely that a transition based on the HNC’s proposal would actually take place, as there was “no prospect of any negotiations” other than the talks in Geneva between the USA and Russian Federation.
The two powers have been negotiating in recent days, with Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin meeting for 90 minutes on Monday on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in China, but failed to reach an agreement.
“We are supporting the process, although we want a genuine ceasefire”, he said.
The HNC’s plans are largely in line with existing worldwide proposals for a post-war Syria, although unlike the so-called Vienna framework, they are clear about the president’s future. This stage stipulates the establishment of the Transitional Governing Body, which in its turn requires “the departure of [Syrian President] Bashar Assad and his clique who committed heinous crimes against the Syrian people”.
“If what the Russians and the Americans agree upon is very much different from what the Syrians aspire to, then we shall not accept it”, Hijab said.
“This vision stems from the HNC’s deep belief in the importance of the true and honest implementation of the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and the relevant UN Resolutions, as well as all the legal obligations enshrined in global law”, the HNC said in the document.
In an article in Wednesday’s edition of The Times, Johnson urged Moscow to cease support for the Syrian president.
More than 70 people were left choking Tuesday, September 6, after regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a rebel-held district of Aleppo, according to a monitoring group.
France’s Ayrault said the UN Security Council should condemn the Assad regime and IS “for their continued use of chemical weapons”.
Johnson accused Assad of “barbaric military tactics”, blasting Russia’s “seemingly indefensible conduct” in backing him.
“But then the Russians are also employing their military muscle to prevent him from losing and to keep him in power”, Johnson wrote.
The talks in London also involved foreign ministers from Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy, as well as representatives of Germany and the EU.
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The five-and-a-half-year conflict has forced more than 4.8 million people to flee Syria, according to figures from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
