Islamic insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham signs opposition statement in Syrian talks

Repairing damaged shops at the covered market in the old city of Homs, Syria on Tuesday.

Above all they say that the talks must accept the transition of the regime agreed by the Geneva 1 conference, which the opposition interprets as meaning the departure of Assad himself.

“These include suspending death sentences against Syrians convicted on charges of opposition to the regime, releasing prisoners and detainees, lifting sieges on besieged areas and allowing humanitarian convoys to reach the needy”, SPA said, quoting the statement issued at the end of the Thursday meeting.

Kurdish fighters were also left out.

Ahrar al-Sham said that it had accepted the Saudi invitation despite the “lack of representation of jihadist factions at a level matching their… role” on the ground in the war-torn country.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a TV interview in Damascus, Syria in this still image taken from a video on November 29, 2015.

Syrian political and armed opposition groups meeting in Riyadh have agreed on a framework for negotiations with president Bashar Al Assad, opposition sources said on Thursday. “A meeting between the opposition and the Syrian regime to go to a transitional period”, he said.

Speaking at a news conference earlier Thursday, Al-Jubeir said Assad has two choices – either step down through negotiations or be forcibly removed from power.

A meeting of Syrian opposition politicians and rebels in Riyadh has produced a statement of principles to guide peace talks with the government, BBC reported.

The meeting was aimed at welding the opposition groups into a unified team for potential talks with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

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

He says the “Saudis did a good job of destroying the October Vienna worldwide agreement”, and “returned the political solution to square one”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the declaration.

“While this important step forward brings us closer to starting negotiations between the Syrian parties, we recognise the hard work ahead, and remain determined to continue toward a political settlement that brings an end the conflict”.

Kurdish groups, including the leading Democratic Union Party, and other opposition movements have organised their own two-day conference that started on Tuesday in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakeh. They add that Assad must leave before the start of the transition process.

Assad told EFE that Saudi Arabia, the US and some Western countries “want terrorist groups to join the negotiations table”. Iran and Russian Federation support Assad.

He said the points included fighting terrorism, rejecting the presence of foreign fighters in Syria, preserving the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and setting up a civilian, democratic government.