President of the Syrian Coalition Abdurrahman Mustafa met with a US delegation Monday morning and discussed with them the latest political and humanitarian developments in Syria.
The US delegation included Karen Decker, Director of the Syria Transition Assistance Response Team (START) of the US State Department and Jill Hutchings, Political Chief in the Syrian file. The meeting was also attended by members of the Coalition’s political committee Hadi Al-Bahra, Hawas Khalil, Fadi Ibrahim, and Ruba Habboush.
President Mustafa emphasized the important role of the United States in striking necessary balance with regards to the political process aimed at achieving a comprehensive political transition meeting the goals of the revolution and the aspirations of the Syrian people for a democratic political system without Bashar al-Assad and through the implementation of the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254.
President Mustafa urged the US to step up its efforts to reinvigorate the Geneva process as the political process enjoying international legitimacy through United Nations sponsorship. He stressed the need to deter the actions of Iran and the activities of its terrorist militias in the region.
Moreover, President Mustafa underscored the need to activate the mechanism of accountability for war crimes in Syria, especially in light of the increasing crimes of the Assad regime and its allies, most notably the mass forced displacement and bombardment using all types of internationally prohibited weapons, including chemical weapons. He called on the American side to step up support for the population who have been forcibly displaced from different areas in Syria, including most recently those who were displaced from northern rural Homs, rural Hama and eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
President Mustafa held the Assad regime and its allies fully responsible for the current situation in Syria, pointing out that the Assad regime destroyed Syria and allowed the entry of Iranian terrorist militias with the sole aim of clinging to power.
President Mustafa pointed out that Iran has further aggravated the crisis in Syria and the region as it penetrated the local communities through supporting and establishing relations with political, religious, and sectarian organizations that operate outside the framework of international legitimacy. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)