Syria opposition says ready for talks but Assad must go

RIYADH — Syria's main opposition groups agreed at unprecedented talks Thursday to negotiate with President Bashar Assad's regime but insisted he step down at the start of a political transition.

Gathered in the Saudi capital Riyadh for the first major talks bringing together various political and armed factions of the Syrian opposition, representatives agreed on a framework for negotiations sought by world powers.

"The participants are ready to negotiate with representatives of the Syrian regime... within a specific time frame that would be agreed on with the United Nations," participants said in a statement.

But the opposition groups insisted that "Bashar Assad and his aides quit power with the start of the transition period" set out last month in Vienna by world powers.

One of Syria's most important rebel groups, Ahrar Al Sham force, said it had walked out of the meeting but sources inside the talks and Western diplomats said it had subsequently signed on to the agreement. This could not immediately be confirmed.

In the biggest diplomatic push yet to resolve Syria’s nearly five-year civil war, top diplomats from 17 countries — including backers and opponents of Assad — agreed in Vienna on a roadmap for the country.

It would see a transitional government set up within six months and elections held within 18 months, and calls for negotiations between the opposition and Assad’s regime by January 1.

Under the agreement reached Thursday, opposition groups have formed a “supreme committee for negotiations” based in Riyadh which will act as a reference for their negotiating team, whose members the body itself will choose.

‘Unified vision’ 

According to opposition sources, the committee will be made up of 30 members, a third of them representing armed factions.

The opposition groups called on the United Nations and international community to force the regime to take “goodwill measures” before negotiations can begin, including an end to indiscriminate bombing and sieges on rebel-held areas, the entry of humanitarian aid, the release of political detainees and a halt to executions.

Suhair Atassi, a member of the National Coalition, the main political opposition grouping, told AFP that the agreement represented “a unified vision for the settlement process”.

The future of Assad was a key issue of the talks.

Western- and Arab-backed rebel groups have insisted the Syrian leader must step down immediately, but internal opposition groups disagree, as do Assad’s key backers Tehran and Moscow.

Participants appeared to have reached a compromise by agreeing to hold talks without Assad’s immediate departure but insisting he step down later.

Syria’s opposition has been under intense pressure to sign up to the peace process, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying Thursday he hoped the meeting would make progress.

“I think everybody is moving in the direction that they want to rapidly try to get to a political process and get it underway under UN auspices,” Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Paris.

Assad must go: Saudi Arabia

Not all of Syria’s armed factions attended the talks, with jihadists such as the Daesh terror group and Al Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra Front excluded.

Kurdish fighters were also excluded and at parallel talks in Syria this week the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab coalition fighting Daesh in northern Syria, announced the creation of a political wing called the Syrian Democratic Council.

Given its longstanding opposition to Assad, Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the talks came under fire, with Tehran saying the meeting was in breach of declarations made in the international peace talks.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said groups linked to Daesh were attending.

“Terrorist groups pretending to be moderate opponents [of the regime] and seeking to determine the future of Syria and the region will not be permitted,” Abdollahian said in remarks quoted by state television.

“Only the people of Syria can decide the future of their country,” he added.

Riyadh has been among those calling most strongly for Assad’s departure and on Thursday Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir insisted again that he must leave.

“Bashar Al Assad has two choices: leave through negotiations, which would be fastest and easiest, or he will be removed by force, because the Syrian people refuse for this man to be allowed to stay in power,” Jubeir said.

The United States will hold further discussions on Syria with Russia and the United Nations in Geneva on Friday. 

Since it began in March 2011, Syria’s conflict has left more than 250,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.