Syrian opposition groups agree to political solution talks with Assad

Abdulaziz al-Sager, who chaired the meeting, said the talks between the Syrian opposition and the government would take place in the first 10 days of January.

A vast range of rebel groups agreed to the framework at a two-day meeting in the Saudi capital that ended Thursday, marking a step forward for Syria’s badly fragmented opposition.

Kerry said that he had spoken to Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir since the deal was signed.

“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.

Now, even though the Syrian crisis has become a tsunami threatening to engulf Europe with a refugee crisis and the United States with anti-Muslim hysteria, Obama can’t accept the most obvious solution: compel all reasonable sides to accept a ceasefire and hold an internationally supervised election in which anyone who wants to lead the country can stand before the voters.

The experience of a failed peace conference in Switzerland two years ago had kept expectations for the latest push low.

Following talks in Saudi Arabia, they’ll be negotiating with the Syrian government next month – but insist President Bashar al-Assad must leave before a transition starts.

Russian Federation is a key backer of Mr. Assad and has struck rebel targets as well as IS positions.

The plan calls for negotiations between opposition representatives and the regime by January 1.

The group, which included both political opposition leaders and “rebel factions ranging from secular to Islamist”, was largely composed of factions with powerful outside backers, such as Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

If the Kremlin can hold onto this strategic asset and maintain its influence in a post-Assad era, Mr Putin will find it much easier to join the more focussed and internationally agreed fight against so called Islamic State.

Russian air strikes have targeted a number of FSA groups in western Syria, notably factions that have received military support from Assad’s foreign enemies, including anti-tank missiles.

It also said rebel fighters had been under-represented at the talks and their voices largely ignored. “Such an interpretation is possible”.

Assad said he still had support in the country and would not step down.

Excluded from the talks in Riyadh was a force with which the Pentagon has collaborated closely in attacking ISIS in Syria, the Kurdish YPG (Peoples’ Protection Unit) militia.

There were reports on Thursday night that the group had changed its mind and was going to be a part of the talks.

He put the toll at at least 50 dead and 80 wounded. He added that while he was “working toward” the US meeting the arrangements were “not locked in yet”.

The largest bloc at the meeting, with around 20 delegates, is the Western-backed opposition group known as the Syrian National Coalition.

More than 100 representatives from Syria’s political and armed factions attended the meeting in Riyadh.

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

“The meeting in Saudi Arabia appears to be very constructive at this point, and we need to wait for the results of that conference”, Kerry said in Paris.