No role for Assad, Syria rebels insist

Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Al Assad say there “will not accept that Assad stays as part of a transitional period”.

BEIRUT // Syrian opposition forces say they will never accept President Bashar Al Assad’s rule, after signs that Western powers may be willing to work with the embattled leader to end the war.

In recent weeks, long-time backers of Syria’s uprising have suggested that Assad has a role to play in ending the four-year conflict, and could even stay on during a transitional period.

But for opposition figures and fighters on the ground, that idea is virtually sacrilegious.

“The regime continuing and Assad staying is a failure,” said Ahmad Qura Ali, a spokesman for the powerful Ahrar Al Sham rebel group.

“It also demonstrates disrespect towards the sacrifices of the Syrian people and, even more importantly, irreverence towards the will of the Syrian people,” he said.

Activist Ibrahim Al Idlibi, who took part in the anti-government demonstrations that began in March 2011, said Syrians “will not accept that Assad stays as part of a transitional period”.

“It’s not possible to look at a terrorist killer as a protector or provider of security,” he added.

Mr Al Assad’s departure has been a key demand of the opposition since the uprising began.

Political opponents and rebels alike point to the so-called Geneva I peace conference held in 2012, at which world powers called for a transitional government that would have full executive powers.

The opposition and its international backers have long said that meant Mr Al Assad would have no role in any transition, but in recent weeks Western powers have softened that interpretation.

The West has been rattled by the growth of ISIL — which has expanded despite air strikes from a US-led coalition — and the recent arrival of a wave of refugees on Europe’s shores.

But opposition forces point out that Mr Al Assad’s forces still kill far more Syrians than ISIL, and that his regime’s strategy has always been to paint itself as the sole alternative to extremists.

“The regime helped ISIL grow and spread throughout Syria at the expense of the revolution... not at the expense of the regime,” said Mamoun Abu Omar, an activist in Aleppo.

For many in the opposition, the apparent softening of the line on Mr Al Assad comes as little surprise and is just the latest example of the disarray that characterises their backers’ policy.

On the ground, rebels said they would continue to battle the regime, and try to demonstrate it was no ally in the fight against ISIL.

“We have no choice but to prepare for larger military action and to apply more pressure to show the weakness of Assad and his allies,” said Major Essam Al Rayes, spokesman for the Southern Front rebel group.

* Agence France-Presse