- Title: Syrian opposition says won't make concessions despite regime's advances in Aleppo
- Date: 12th December 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 12, 2016) (AGENCY POOL) REPUBLICAN GUARDS STANDING ON ELYSEE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE STEPS CHIEF SYRIAN OPPOSITION COORDINATOR, RIAD HIJAB, STEPPING OUT OF VEHICLE FRENCH AND EU FLAGS HIJAB WALKING UP STEPS AND STANDING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS VARIOUS OF ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION BETWEEN FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE AND SYRIAN OPPOSITION DELEGATION JOURNALISTS WAITING IN HALL AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA HIJAB AND HOLLANDE WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHIEF SYRIAN OPPOSITION COORDINATOR, RIAD HIJAB, SAYING: "If Assad and his allies think that a military advance in certain quarters of Aleppo signifies that we will make concessions, or that we will make concessions on the goals of the revolution, then (I say) that will not happen. Not at all." JOURNALISTS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHIEF SYRIAN OPPOSITION COORDINATOR, RIAD HIJAB, SAYING: "We will not make any concessions. We will not bargain with the rights of the Syrian people. We will not bargain with the traits of the Syrian revolution. There is no place for assassins - those who kill Syrian people, those who commit crimes against Syrian people, they will have no place, neither during the transitional phase nor in the future of Syria." SYRIAN OPPOSITION FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHIEF SYRIAN OPPOSITION COORDINATOR, RIAD HIJAB, SAYING: "We are saying that there is an international resolution, which must be put in place. In resolution 2254, there are numerous paragraphs which Russia voted for. Why did Russia vote for it? Why don't they implement it? Why don't they stop bombing? Why don't they lift the blockades they have put in place with the Assad regime, Shi'ite militias and the Iranian revolutionary guard? Syrians are dying of hunger." CHANDELIER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "I wanted to tell this opposition that it has the support of France. It (the opposition) has nothing to do with terrorist organisations - those are the words of the regime and its supporters, Russian and Iranian, who want to make this confusion." HOLLANDE AND HIJAB SHAKING HANDS
- Embargoed: 27th December 2016 16:40
- Keywords: Riad Hijab Aleppo Bashar al-Assad High Negotiations Committee Syria Aleppo
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA0015CKY347
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Syria's chief opposition coordinator Riad Hijab said on Monday (December 12) that defeat in Aleppo would not weaken the resolve of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad to remove him from power.
"If Assad and his allies think that a military advance in certain quarters of Aleppo signifies that we will make concessions, or that we will make concessions on the goals of the revolution, then (I say) that will not happen. Not at all," Hijab told reporters after meeting French President Francois Hollande.
The Syrian army and its allies are in the "final stages" of recapturing Aleppo after a sudden advance that has pushed rebels to the brink of collapse in an ever-shrinking enclave, a Syrian general said on Monday.
Hijab, once a prime minister under Assad, accused Russia of double standards by saying that the opposition was always demanding preconditions for peace talks when in reality Assad's opponents wanted international resolutions that Moscow had agreed to at the United Nations to be implemented.
"In resolution 2244, there are numerous paragraphs which Russia voted for. Why did Russia vote for it? Why don't they implement it? Why don't they stop bombing? Why don't they lift the blockades they have put in place with the Assad regime, Shi'ite militias and the Iranian revolutionary guard? Syrians are dying of hunger," he said.
Hijab, who presides over the High Negotiations Committee of opponents of Assad, also accused Assad's forces and Russia of being unwilling and unable to fight Islamic State militants who control parts of the country and on Sunday retook the ancient city of Palmyra.
Hollande expressed France's support for the Syrian opposition after his country hosted a meeting in Paris on Saturday of countries that oppose Assad, including France, Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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