The Syrian opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) discussed in detail the question of a transitional governing body during their first meeting with the UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, head of the HNC delegation Nasr Hariri in Geneva said on Friday.
“We have concluded fruitful discussions with Mr. Staffan de Mistura. We proceeded from the progress, achieved at the end of the previous round especially on the issue of political transition. We elaborated more on the transitional governing body and its structure as well as on all transitional institutions, related to the governing body during the transitional period,” Hariri told reporters.
The HNC handed to de Mistura a report on the humanitarian situation in Syria. At least 586 people had been killed across Syria between the two rounds of negotiations. Regime forces and their allies targeted at least nine schools, several medical facilities, and five public markets. The Assad regime arbitrarily arrested 647 people, including 24 children and 43 women, Hariri said.
“We are here to rid our country of terrorism. However, in order to liberate the country from ISIS, we should first free it from the state terrorism being practiced by the Assad regime,” Hariri stressed.
The HNC’s chief negotiator Mohamed Sabra said that the HNC delegation handed to the UN envoy a paper outlining the opposition’s vision for the transitional governing body. The paper demanded that powers to be exercised by the body should include the powers of the president and the government, including authority over the army and security apparatus. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Al-Arabiya)
