Syria’s opposition to boycott peace talks if Assad doesn’t stand aside

The Syrian National Coalition says it will boycott the Geneva talks if Bashar Al Assad doesn't stand aside as Syria's leader.

Some of the officials at the "London 11" Friends of Syria Core Group meeting in London. (L-R front Saudi Prince Saud Al Faisal, British foreign minister William Hague and US secretary of state John KeShow more

LONDON // Syria’s opposition refused to budge on its position towards a proposed peace conference in Geneva, saying yesterday it would boycott the talks unless the goal is to remove President Bashar Al Assad from power.

The Syrian National Coalition has taken this position despite attempts from its international allies, including the United States and Britain, to convince it to attend the Geneva talks, tentatively set for late November, at which Mr Al Assad’s government will be present.

The SNC met 11 international allies in London yesterday to discuss possible solutions to end Syria’s civil war, but the coalition’s head, Ahmad Jarba struck a defiant tone.

“The Sultan must leave,” Mr Jarba said, referring to Mr Al Assad. “Geneva cannot succeed and we cannot take part if it allows Assad to gain more time to spill the blood of our people while the world looks on.”

Mr Al Jarba said the coalition does not want to negotiate with the Assad regime directly, nor agree to negotiations without a set timetable. He also said he wanted only the SNC at the table to represent opposition — not extremist groups who have joined against Assad, and objected to Iran’s participation.

But John Kerry warned the coalition that Syria was at risk of “implosion” if the civil war continued and said the only alternative to a negotiated settlement was “continued if not increased killing”.

The US secretary of state urged the SNC to join the Geneva 2 process and his position was echoed by British foreign secretary William Hague, who said the London meeting had urged the SNC — the main opposition umbrella group — to “commit itself fully” to the talks.

Mr Hague said the SNC’s international backers agreed that they would put their “united and collective weight” behind efforts to form a transitional government and that “Al Assad would play no role in that future government of Syria”.

The Syrian opposition is due to meet at the start of November to finalise whether they will be present at Geneva 2.

Mr Kerry said he remains optimistic that the coalition would agree to participate in the talks. But he said the western-backed Syrian opposition members have “to make up their own mind.”

“None of us are going to prejudge or precondition what they will choose to do in that process,” Mr Kerry said after yesterday’s so-called Friends of Syria meeting.

Mr Kerry’s comments came after he met Mr Al Jarba.

The Friends of Syria also released a communique outlining goals for the negotiations’ outcome. They include a mandatory requirement that mr Al Assad and his close aides will have no role in a new Syrian government.

Mr Al Assad has shown no sign he is ready to give up power, and declined in an interview this week to rule out running for re-election next year. He also questioned the legitimacy of the opposition and said the factors needed for a proposed peace conference to succeed do not yet exist.

“Who are the groups that will participate? What is their relation with the Syrian people? Do they represent the Syrian people or they represent the country that made them?” Assad said during an interview with Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV. “There are many questions about the conference.”

The process of removing Mr Al Assad from office has been frustrated partly by a rise of violent extremists who have joined rebel groups and opposition leaders who are working to oust him.

US officials say the extremists, including groups linked to Al Qaeda, may instead have hurt negotiations and jeopardised foreign support. They argue it is difficult to identify moderate rebel groups and ensure that the weapons they are supplied with will not fall into Al Qaeda hands.

Extremist groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Jabhat Al Nusra, have damaged the credibility of the fractured opposition to Mr Al Assad and drawn battle lines among once-allied rebel forces. As a result, that likely has boosted Mr Al Assad’s confidence to resist yielding at the negotiating table.

“We share growing concern at the spread of extremism and extremist groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Al Nusra. We call for Iran, Hizbollah and all other foreign fighters and forces to withdraw from Syria,” the Friends of Syria — Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, UK and USA — said yesterday.

Mr Hague emphasised support for the SNC even though groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, a loose coalition of rebel brigades, are in disarray. Last week, 65 rebel groups, including many linked to the FSA, announced they would not recognise the SNC in what was widely seen as a rebuke to the West for failing to send more support.

* Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and WAM