President of the Syrian Coalition Abdurrahman Mustafa met with the French Special Envoy to Syria, Franck Gellet and discussed with him the continued military escalation by the Assad regime and its allies and their war crimes against civilians.
Both sides discussed ways to revive the UN-led political process in Geneva as they stressed the need to support efforts to reach a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254.
President Mustafa underscored that achieving a comprehensive political transition through the formation of a Transitional Governing Body (TGB) with full executive powers, including the powers of the President, is the only way to put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people and restore stability to the country.
Moreover, President Mustafa warned of the implications of Law No. 10 which has recently been adopted by the Assad regime as it gives the regime the right to confiscate the property of the displaced people and refugees under the pretext of rezoning the destroyed areas. He cautioned that the new legalization risks preventing the return of displaced people and refugees to their areas of origin.
The new legalization is intended to legitimize the mass forced displacement that the Assad regime, Russia, and Iran carried out in various areas in Syria, President Mustafa noted, stressing that these actions constituted war crimes under international law.
President Mustafa said that the Assad regime continued to bomb Idlib and Hama provinces, calling for ensuring protection for civilians there as the two provinces have become densely populated following the arrival of large numbers of displaced persons from other parts of Syria.
President Mustafa also called for the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced people as he noted that large numbers of civilians, mostly children and women, are suffering lack of shelter and shortages of food. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
