Syrian opposition rejects Russia’s proposal for peace

Russian Federation is calling for a new Syrian constitution to help put an end to the almost five-year war in Syria.

Moscow’s proposal contains eight points, but is silent on whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will remain in power during the early elections, according to the document obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.

The text does not rule out Assad’s participation in early presidential elections, something his enemies say is impossible if there is to be peace.

Russia’s deputy United Nations ambassador Vladimir Safronkov has confirmed to the Associated Press and other media that a leaked document from Moscow about the future of Syrian peace initiatives is legitimate.

It would depend on Washington’s “answers regarding a few unilateral actions taken by a few of the sides” attending the talks “without consulting others”, al Mayadeen said. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was quoted as saying: “We do not believe that it is going to be possible to bring the opposition groups into the political process and have an effective ceasefire unless we have a clear point at which President Assad will depart”.

Russian Federation began launching airstrikes in support of Assad’s troops on September 30.

Latakia, which lies in the heartland of President Assad’s minority Alawite sect, has largely escaped the conflict that has devastated most of Syria and killed more than 250,000 people.

‘Each country will be able to submit names which will then have to be reduced to between 20 and 25 people to be divided into two commissions, one on political reforms and the other on security, ‘ the source said.

Mr Shehadeh said the proposal is not official yet.

Ruslan Leviev, who heads CIT, said the scenario is similar to the one the Kremlin used in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been accused of directly backing separatists fighting Ukrainian forces with arms, weapons, and regular troops, while admitting only that Russian volunteers were taking part.

Iranian-Saudi tensions are running high over the crises in Syria and Yemen and mutual accusations over last month’s hajj disaster in Mecca in which 2,100 pilgrims, including 465 Iranians, were killed. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that it served as the basis for an exchange of ideas.

This occurred especially in the rural border provinces with the encouragement of Syria’s neighbouring countries, which had either taken a public stand against Bashar al-Assad, or at least distanced themselves from the Syrian government. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said ISIL is reportedly sending reinforcements from Raqqa to Aleppo.

“Russia wants this list to include all the groups that fight anything else except Islamic State, so that means groups against the regime”, the diplomat said.

In Aleppo province, Syrian troops backed by Russian air power have edged into territory controlled by rebels and IS jihadists south and southeast of the provincial capital, but securing Kweyris would mark the first major victory in the area.

On Tuesday US Air Force General Herbert Carlisle said communications with Russian Federation have vastly improved since the start of Moscow’s bombing campaign with twice-daily talks and a hotline set up.