The main Western-backed coalition of Syria’s political opposition agreed to attend peace talks in Switzerland next week, which will bring together representatives of President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups for the first time since the country’s civil war began in 2011.
Fifty-eight of 73 voters at a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul backed joining the international peace conference set to open in Montreux on Jan. 22, Soner Ahmed, a coalition spokesman, told Bloomberg News today by phone. Twelve abstained, two voted against participating, and one cast a blank ballot, Ahmed said.
The coalition agreed after “marathon discussions” to send a delegation to the so-called Geneva II talks, confront Assad’s “terrorism,” and to “entirely” strip him of his authority, Ahmad al-Jarba, the coalition’s president, said in a speech following the vote.
“We are not weak or the minority, and the free people of the world are supporting us,” Jarba said, adding that the regime must be tried and purged of “all its criminals.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius both welcomed the opposition alliance’s decision, calling it “courageous,” according to e-mailed statements.
The talks were at risk of collapsing amid concerns over whether the opposition could resolve internal rifts, deter the rise of radical Islamist militias and form a credible representative body. Intensified fighting with Assad’s forces that has blocked delivery of humanitarian aid had also undermined prospects for the conference.
‘Better Future’
The Syrian opposition’s decision to join the peace conference is “in the interests of all the Syrian people who have suffered so horribly under the brutality of the Assad regime and a civil war without end,” Kerry said.
“The opposition has chosen a path that will ultimately lead to a better future for all Syrians,” Kerry said. He added that the U.S. will continue to demand an end to the regime’s SCUD missiles, barrel bombs, and other weapons used against civilians while pushing for “improved humanitarian access, prisoner releases, and the return of journalists and aid workers held hostage.”
The U.S. and Russia have been trying to hold the United Nations-backed peace conference since last year, saying the talks are the only political solution to the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 and forced millions to flee. Geneva II attendees will discuss establishing a transitional government with full executive powers by mutual consent, a plan adopted by the U.S., Russia and other major powers at the June 2012 conference dubbed “Geneva I.”
Political Transition
The Assad government informed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a Jan. 8 letter that it will send a delegation to the talks, while objecting to “certain points” in the terms of the aims of the conference. The government said elements of Ban’s invitation conflict “with the legal and political position of the State of Syria.”
Syria previously has objected to the idea that peace talks would involve the Assad’s departure from power, as the U.S. asserts.
While the Assad regime “can bluster, they can protest, they can put out distortions,” the purpose of the talks is to discuss a political transition, Kerry said yesterday in Washington.
“The bottom line is: We are going to Geneva to implement Geneva I. And if Assad doesn’t do that, he will invite greater response in various ways from various people over a period of time,” Kerry said.
UN’s Ban on Jan. 6 invited about 30 countries including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, key backers of Syrian rebel factions, to meet in Montreux. Iran, a major ally and supporter of Assad, wasn’t invited because it hasn’t officially recognized the need for a political transition in Syria.
Starting Jan. 24, Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy on Syria, will mediate talks between the opposition and the Syrian government delegations at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sangwon Yoon in United Nations at syoon32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net
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