Head of the opposition negotiation’s delegation to Geneva talks said that negotiations have not resulted in any substantial progress, blaming the Assad regime for the failure of the previous rounds of negotiations.
Nasr Hariri, head of the delegation of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) stressed that the Assad regime is to blame for the stalled talks which wrapped up on Friday. He reiterated the HNC’s commitment to make negotiations a success.
At a press conference in the UN headquarters in Geneva on Friday, Hariri said that the HNC’s delegation insisted on discussing political transition and its various aspects. “To this point negotiations have not resulted in relative progress, but we hope it did not fail altogether.”
Hariri pointed out that the opposition delegation discussed the constitutional procedures governing the political process “to guarantee the rights of the Syrian people” and the security measures to be implemented during the transitional period, in addition to holding elections which is supposed to take place at the end of the transitional period.
“Through its participation in the Geneva talks, the opposition is seeking to put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people,” Hariri added. He noted that the Assad regime has killed more than 1,000 civilians since the fifth round of talks began on February 23.
“Accountability for crimes committed in Syria should not be a subject for negotiations,” Hariri added.
The HNC’s delegation also sought to ensure the implementation of the humanitarian provisions set out in UN resolutions and to reach a just political solution without Bashar al-Assad and his clique.
“We cannot say that negotiations succeeded or failed. We are fully aware that negotiations would be lengthy and difficult, but the other a party does not want to negotiate.”
“They are solely discussing their empty rhetoric about countering terrorism, although they attracted terrorism to region, they used all kinds of weapons, and they used siege and chemical weapons against the Syrian people,” Hariri went on.
Remarking on the Russian position concerning recent developments in Syria, Hariri pointed out that while claiming to support a political process, Moscow continues to support the Assad regime and contribute to demographic change that is being carried out by the Assad regime in Syria.
“These two factors contradict one another,” Hariri stressed. “On the ground, they are helping the regime and contributing to displacement and demographic change, while also claiming to support the political process.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
