A delegation of the opposition’s High Negotiating Committee (HNC) headed by General Coordinator Riad Hijab will participate in the meeting of Friends of Syria at the ministerial level in Paris on Monday.
A press release issued by the European Union on Sunday said the meeting “will aim at supporting the Geneva process and preparing for the next round of intra-Syrian talks in order for parties in conflict to reach an agreement for a political transition in Syria.”
The meeting will be attended by the foreign ministers of France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey as well as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will join the conferees on Monday afternoon. It is expected that foreign ministers of Britain, Italy and Germany will also participate in the meeting.
Hijab last week said that the Geneva talks on Syria had reached a dead end due to the intransigence of the Assad regime and its continued refusal to discuss the formation of a transitional governing body as was stipulated by the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and the UN Security Council resolution 2254.
“For us it is impossible to discuss the regime’s idea of a transitional government,” Hijab said on Wednesday ahead of talks in Berlin with German and French foreign ministers.
“There cannot be a political solution in Syria that includes Bashar al-Assad. International resolutions on Syria must be implemented in order to form a transitional governing body with full executive powers in which Bashar al-Assad and everyone with blood on their hands do not have any role to play.”
Hijab said that any renewed cease-fire agreement must include all parts in Syria, and temporary local truce agreements proposed by the Assad regime were not acceptable. He also called for establishing a clear timetable for political transition without Assad and his clique. (Source: Agencies)
