Nasr al-Hariri, head of the opposition’s negotiating delegation to the Geneva talks, said that the talks must focus on political transition in Syria as all UN resolutions on Syria had political transition at their core.
In a press conference following the opening ceremony of the new rounds of talks that began late on Thursday in Geneva, Hariri pointed out that the ball is now in the court of the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura and the United Nations, urging them to assume a positive role as sponsors of negotiations.
Hariri called on the UN envoy “to stick to the first item in the agenda which is a political transition that is acceptable to the Syrian people,” adding that UNSCR 1254 stressed the Syrian people’s right to choose their representatives in any peace talks. He noted that the Syrian people agreed to one delegation that is represented by the High Negotiations Committee (HNC).
Hariri criticized the international community’s silence over the daily crimes that have been committed against the Syrian people for nearly six years, stressing that the Assad regime’s only goal is to hold to power at the expense of the Syrian people, both the opposition and his supporters.
Hariri noted that Russia is trying to circumvent the international resolutions on Syria and discredit the Syrian opposition and that it continues to support the Assad regime. Moreover, Russia has so far failed to control the Assad regime or even rein in the militias fighting on Assad’s side.
On Iran’s blatant interference in Syria, Hariri stressed that Iran represents the biggest obstacle to reaching political deals in the region. Tehran has invested politically, militarily and on the security level in Syria as it has deployed tens of thousands of sectarian militants to prop up the Assad regime.
Hariri called for a real and intensive international efforts to make the talks a success, urging the US to assume a bigger and positive role to deal with Iran’s interference in Syria and to help reach a just political solution that puts an end to the suffering of the syrian people.
“Bashar Al-Assad could remain in power only in one case; if the Syrian people accepted this, which is extremely unlikely as the Assad regime has been killing and displacing innocent civilians since the start Syrian revolution. “(Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
