Middle East

Syrian Opposition’s demand for Assad ouster overshadows UN-backed peace talks

Syria’s Saudi-backed opposition, whose representatives are in Geneva for a fresh round of UN-led peace talks, renews the call for President Bashar al-Assad’s departure, casting further doubts about the prospect of a breakthrough in the negotiations.

Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the so-called High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said in Geneva on Monday evening that Assad’s departure should be set before the start of any transition process.

Hariri was selected as the chief HNC negotiator on Friday during a conference in Saudi Arabia. He replaced Riyad al-Hijab, who quit shortly before the opposition forum in Riyadh.

“We stress that political transition which achieves the ousting of Assad at the beginning is our goal,” al-Hariri said on the eve of the eighth round of UN-brokered talks aimed at ending the six-year crisis in the Arab country.

“Our goal in the negotiation will be the departure of Bashar al-Assad from the beginning of the transition,” he said.

He also claimed that some within the broader opposition believe a demand for Assad’s ouster amounts to a “precondition” for talks.

Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura stressed Monday that “we will not accept any preconditions by either party” for the talks.

He expressed hope that the Geneva talks would eventually enable the Syrian warring sides to launch a “genuine” political process.

The UN envoy also said that the Syrian government had not yet confirmed that it would attend the talks, but “indicated that we would be hearing from them soon.”

“Last night we received a message that the government would not travel to Geneva today. Naturally we hope, and indeed expect the government will be on its way shortly,” de Mistura told the UN Security Council.

A Syrian newspaper reported that the government delegation would delay its planned Tuesday arrival in Geneva due to the opposition’s demand that Assad leave power.

In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on November 20, Assad said he was “ready for dialogue with all those who want to come up with a political settlement.”

Previous rounds of negotiations over the past five years have failed to achieve a tangible result, mainly due to the opposition’s insistence that Assad should cede power.

That condition seems no longer tenable due to Syria’s continued victories against the militants in the recent past.

In another development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his country’s support for Syria’s territorial integrity.

“We look at the territorial integrity of Syria as an absolute necessity. Nobody for the time being, and I hope, will never say that this principle is being questioned,” Lavrov said Monday.

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