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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian opposition ready for peace talks if Assad gives up power |
| 2013-07-27 |
| Syrian opposition groups stand ready for peace talks with Damascus if President Bashar al-Assad would transfer all executive power to a transitional body, their leader said Friday, dpa reported. Ahmad al-Jabar, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said in New York that the United Nations Security Council should demand all Syrian parties accept a national transitional government with full executive authorty including military and security matters. "The Security (Council) must explicitly require this of all participants," al-Jabar said. He said the 15-nation council should impose targeted sanctions against Damascus if it rejects a transition. Al-Jabar said he would take part in peace talks in Geneva if Damascus "explicitly" would transfer all authority to the transitional body. A conference last year in Geneva called for a political and democratic transition to end the conflict, which arose after a bloody regime crackdown on pro-reform demonstrations in early 2011. "The situation in Syria is desperate," al-Jabar said. "The Syrian people are calling for peace and democracy. We need more international pressure to force the Assad regime to accept a transition regime." Diplomats who met with al-Jabar and his delegation said the discussion covered issues from human rights to prospects of a political settlement. "We received a positive message and a strong commitment to unity and democracy in Syria," British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said following a three-hour meeting. "They rejected extremism and terrorism." French Ambassador Gerard Araud said the Syrian opposition gave a "clear commitment" to a new Geneva conference while demanding that Damascus relinquish power to the transition government. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose country backs al-Assad, called the meeting "useful." "We should not be carried away (by the commitment). The meeting was not to officially recognize the coalition," he cautioned. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Arab idea of negotiations: "first you surrender unconditionally"... |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-07-27 01:30 |