The Syrian National Coalition’s political committee held its periodic meeting on Thursday. The meeting began with a discussion of the latest military developments and the gains recently made by the Syrian National Army and the losses incurred by the Assad regime and its backers. The committee also discussed the political process and the latest developments regarding the holding of a new round of talks by the Constitutional Committee in Geneva.
The meeting, which was chaired by President of the Syrian National Coalition, Anas al-Abda, brought together Head of the Syrian Negotiations Commission Nasr al-Hariri, Co-chair of the Constitutional Committee, Hadi al-Bahra, and Head of the Syrian Interim Government, Abdurrahman Mustafa.
President Al-Abda applauded the SNA’s fending off of the Assad regime forces and Iranian militias in Idlib province and rural Aleppo. He stressed that the armed opposition are fully prepared to foil any regime attempt to advance on the liberated areas in light of the international community’s failure to force the Assad regime and its backers to respect the ceasefire.
SIG’s Head Abdurrahman Mustafa pointed to the increasing challenges facing SIG with the influx of IDP fleeing Idlib province and western and southern rural Aleppo. He stressed the need for greater humanitarian intervention by the United Nations and for effective cooperation between the UN and partners on the ground. He also stressed the need to strengthen the work of the local councils to enable them to meet the basic needs of the IDP.
The participants also discussed the developments in the political process and the visit the UN envoy, Geir Pedersen will make to Moscow to discuss the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Constitutional Committee.
Hariri spoke of an international move to hold a new round of talks by the Constitutional Committee. He said that the expectations were low due to the lack of a real desire on the part of Russia to advance the political process and its insistence on pursuing bloody military operations. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)