“This transitional period will begin with the departure of Bashar al-Assad and his clique, and of course those who have committed crimes against the Syrian people”, Hijab said.
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Ahead of a Wednesday meeting with the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition group, the Foreign Secretary called on Russian Federation and the United States to help create a ceasefire.
The umbrella organisation, which Mr Johnson has described as one of the “broadest-based”, wants an initial six-month negotiating phase between the regime and the opposition, with a total ceasefire and humanitarian access.
The opposition hopes new talks would result in an 18-month transition that would see Syria governed by a transitional body made up of opposition figures, current government representatives and members of civil society, according to a 25-page blueprint.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is hosting the meeting, wrote in The Times that there “was still a chance that this vision can be made to work”.
It follows an attack in the same area where a suspected chlorine bomb was dropped allegedly by regime forces the day before.
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. “The use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances is unacceptable”, Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said in a statement.
However, efforts are still going on behind the scenes and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in London on Tuesday that an agreement was possible within 24 hours.
President Bashar al-Assad would be required to leave office at the end of those six months.
He also used his article to accuse Assad of “barbaric military tactics” in the ongoing conflict and criticised Russia’s “seemingly indefensible conduct” in backing him.
“The entire global community is committed, at least in principle, to getting rid of the Syrian dictator”.
Writing in the Times, he said that while the Kremlin has accepted there must be a political transition in the Middle Eastern country, Mr Johnson identifies that the “Russians are also employing their military muscle to prevent him [Assad] from losing, to keep him in power”.
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Mr. Assad has consistently refused to step down since the beginning of the war, which has left more than 250,000 people dead.
