Saudi minister says Syria crisis solution requires consensus

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told representatives of the Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday that the only solution to the crisis in Syria was through a consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people.

"There is no solution to the crisis without a Syrian consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people on the basis of Geneva 1 and (UN Security Council) resolution 2254," Jubeir, said speaking in Arabic at the meeting.

UN peace talks mediator Staffan de Mistura urged the opposition figures gathered for the conference in Riyadh to have the “hard discussions” necessary to reach a “common line”.

“A strong unified team is a creative partner in Geneva and we need that, one who can actually explore more than one way to arrive to the goals that we need to have,” he said in opening remarks.

It was not immediately clear how Hijab’s absence would affect the talks. Several opposition figures said he had taken an uncompromising line that rejected a role for Assad in a UN sponsored Geneva based peace process.

Some opposition members have hinted that the new communique would drop the long standing demand by the Riyadh based main opposition, referring to the next round of UN.-sponsored talks.

The summit, which Saudi Arabia called “expanded”, was opened to more than 140 opposition figures from the Turkey-based coalition and mainstream Free Syrian Army factions as well as independents including about a dozen women.

The HNC has represented the Syrian opposition at previous Geneva talks, while a number of other political opposition groups and figures backed by other countries including Russia and Egypt also exist.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the only solution to the conflict was through a consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people.

“There is no solution to the crisis without a Syrian consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people on the basis of Geneva 1 and (UN Security Council) resolution 2254,” he said.

The Moscow group of Syrian political activists led by a former deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said they turned down an invitation to attend the conference, accusing the members of the main HNC opposition of thwarting efforts to set up a single delegation.

“We consider the effort of some of the opposition to exploit the meeting as a platform for their own political ends goes against Saudi Arabia’s efforts to form a unified delegation,” Jamil said in a statement.

Russia has led a campaign to push for the merger of the Moscow group into a single delegation with the HNC. The main opposition body says it is a stooge of Moscow to sow divisions within their ranks.

The opposition meeting is set to last until Friday, when a joint statement is expected. Several rounds of UN talks in Geneva between the Damascus government and the opposition have made little progress since the Syria conflict erupted in 2011.

Assad’s exit to be discussed at Riyadh meet

Head of the Information Department at the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) Ahmed Ramadan said earlier that the Riyadh Conference will discuss a political document, which includes a stipulation that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad exits from power. 

In an interview with Al Arabiya, a member of the NCSROF, Hisham Marwa, said that that the Riyadh conference will not justify Assad’s survival as president. The opposition in Riyadh adhere to the principles of the revolution, he added.

Meanwhile, the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has witnessed a series of resignations starting with the Head of the opposition Riyad Hijab, who submitted his resignation on Monday evening. 

Following Hijab was: Mohammed Sabra, the opposition delegation’s chief negotiator; Khaled Khoja; Salem al-Musallat; Suheir Atassi and Riyad Naasan Agha.

Al Arabiya learned that the resignations affected 10 people. 

Speaking to Al Hadath, sources said that most members of the HNC were not invited to the Riyadh Conference, except for the head of the organization, Riyad Hijab.

The Syrian opposition meeting began in Riyadh in a bid to unify the group’s position ahead of peace talks backed by the United Nations to end the country’s six-year civil war.

The summit comes after a surprise visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Russia a day earlier to meet President Vladimir Putin, who later discussed the conflict with US President Donald Trump and other Middle East leaders.

Assad has made major gains against opposition forces and ISIS militants with the help of Russia as well as Iran, the arch-rival of Saudi Arabia, which backs Syrian rebels and had long maintained that Assad should have no role in any transition to bring the war there to an end.

source: Alarabiya