Syria opposition groups say ready for talks with Assad

A powerful Islamist insurgent group said it pulled out of a Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh on Thursday because rebel proposals had been ignored, in a move which highlighted the enduring divisions among President Bashar al-Assad’s enemies.

Syrian opposition groups on Thursday agreed to discourse with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a potentially momentous step toward peace during a years-long civil war that has devastated the region.

Assad told Spanish news agency EFE that Saudi Arabia, the USA and some Western countries “want terrorist groups to join the negotiations table”.

“It’s not locked in yet, but the meeting in Saudi Arabia appears to be very constructive at this point, and we need to wait for the results of that conference”, the secretary of state said.

“To say that we can only command the support of all coalition members when Assad is gone and until then we will be quite choosy as to the means of fighting terrorists, I believe is a huge mistake”, Lavrov said.

“We do not approve the Riyadh meeting …”

According to the agreement, Mr Al Assad must step down at the start of a transition period set out last month by top diplomats.

Monzer Akbik, a member of the National Coalition opposition group, said the conference agreed to set up a 32-member secretariat to oversee and supervise peace talks.

Representatives of Ahrar al-Sham, a Salafist Islamist group that has cooperated closely with al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate in the past, later returned to the conference amid signs that the group was split over whether to continue participating in the process.

Although the demand goes beyond what Western powers are calling for, it is rejected by Assad’s patrons Russian Federation and Iran.

The opposition groups called on the United Nations and worldwide 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.

But the nearly five-year-old conflict, in which more than 250,000 people have died, has also spawned unlikely alliances of convenience.

The opposition and their armed rebels have repeatedly said there will be no role for al-Assad in the future of Syria.

Shiite Iran, which sees the Syrian strongman as the cornerstone of any future settlement, has propped up Mr. Assad with billions of dollars and thousands of its own fighters as well as proxy militias from such neighboring countries as Lebanon and Iraq.

The YPG recently formed a new US-backed group dubbed the Syrian Democratic Forces consisting of some Free Syrian Army units, Arab tribes and Assyrian Christians.