RUSSIA: Syrian National Council says it oppposes proposed Geneva 2 peace talks in current climate

Record ID: 276552

  • Title: RUSSIA: Syrian National Council says it oppposes proposed Geneva 2 peace talks in current climate
  • Date: 27th December 2013
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 27, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF RUSSIAN RIA NOVOSTI NEWS AGENCY BUILDING SIGN ABOVE ENTRANCE "RIA NOVOSTI" WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE BY REPRESENTATIVE OF SYRIAN OPPOSITION MAHMOUD AL-HAMZA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) REPRESENTATIVE OF SYRIAN OPPOSITION MAHMOUD AL-HAMZA , SAYING ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION: "I represent the position first of all of t
  • Embargoed: 11th January 2014 12:00
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  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8TTB7E5TDEWHWCOURKDX1IH71
  • Story Text: A representative of opposition group the Syrian National Council said in Moscow on Friday (December 27) the SNC opposes taking part in Geneva 2 peace talks next month in the current climate.
    "I represent the position first of all of the Damascus declaration for the National and Political Changes and the position of the Syrian National Council. Our Syrian National Council have unanimously decided that in the current situation it is not reasonable to hold Geneva 2 meeting. In order for this conference to happen certain conditions should be met, but this hasn't happened so far. As for the National coalition in principle it approves the idea of Geneva 2, but it put forward certain demands and if they are met it can take part in Geneva 2. If those who are fighting on the ground agree to these practical steps which would be undertaken - then we may and we should hold Geneva 2 meeting. But there are many groups, including Islamic ones, which are against it," the head of the SNC in Moscow, Mahmoud Al-Hamza, told a news conference at Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.
    Syria's opposition coalition said on Tuesday it would not attend international peace talks in Geneva next month if President Bashar al-Assad's forces continued a fierce air raid campaign on the northern city of Aleppo.
    More than 300 people had been killed in a week of air raids on Syria's biggest city, many of them by so-called barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said on Monday.
    Syrian authorities say they are battling rebels in control of parts of the city, once Syria's business hub. But rights groups have condemned the use of barrel bombs - oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and metal fragments - in particular as an indiscriminate form of bombardment.
    "We and I have already said that necessary conditions were not created yet for the Geneva meeting. In general the opposition is of course for Geneva 2 conference, we are not against Geneva 2, and representatives of the opposition are trying to coordinate and work out a common position, but at present foreign forces are working with certain groups, certain representatives - these are not the main representatives of the opposition - to convince them to go to Geneva. And many foreign forces are trying to present the situation so that the whole Syrian opposition or its major part will take part in Geneva conference. But I want to say that the main representatives of the Syrian opposition - namely the National Coalition of the Syrian Opposition forces, the Syrian National Council - and they are the ones who represent the Syrian people and they represent the majority of the opposition - I have already told you what position they have in regards to Geneva 2," said Al-Hamza.
    World powers, particularly the United States and Russia, have been working to bring the opposition and Assad to negotiations, dubbed "Geneva 2", due to begin on January 22. The aim is to agree on a transitional government to bring Syria out of a 2-1/2-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.
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