Abdelhakim Bashar, former Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition, said that though the Assad regime cannot reject negotiations outright, it still procrastinates and tries to wiggle out of its obligations with regards to the negotiations process.
The international community will not allow the Assad regime to carry on with its dodging and procrastination indefinitely, Bashar said. “The Assad regime will enter to negotiations only because of international pressure rather than because it is willing to do so as negotiations are aimed at the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2254 which will lead to the formation of a Transitional Governing Body (TGB) without the head of the regime and its inner circle.
“Assad” clearly contradicts himself. It accuses the opposition of terrorism while announcing it is ready to engage with it in negotiations scheduled for late August in Astana and early September in Geneva,” Bashar added. He pointed out that such remarks are “aimed only at strengthening the regime’s negotiating position,” adding that the “Syrian opposition” still supports political solution in Syria in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
With regards to the Assad regime’s announcement that it will not engage in security coordination with countries that support the Syrian opposition, Bashar explained that it is these countries who have thus far refused to coordinate security with the Assad regime. He noted that “the Assad regime would not hesitate to cooperate with these countries should they invite it to do so.”
Bashar also said that the Syrian Coalition still insists on bringing all those whose hands are stained with the blood of the Syrians people to trial at the International Criminal Court. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Smart News Network)
