President of the Syrian Coalition Khaled Khoja said yesterday that “participation of the Syrian opposition’s delegation in the upcoming Geneva conference will be in accordance with a clear agenda on the basis of UN Security Council resolution 2118 which calls for the formation of a transitional governing body with full powers.”
President Khoja stressed the need for meeting the humanitarian conditions set out by former UN envoy to Syria Kofi Annan before launching the upcoming Geneva negotiations. He reiterated that the Syrian opposition would not engage in negotiations on vague grounds, noting that the opposition’s delegation would go to Geneva to negotiate and not to hold dialogue with the Assad regime.
Moreover, President Khoja said that stopping the bombardment and lifting sieges on Syrian cities are humanitarian prerequisites rather than political negotiable preconditions.
President Khoja denounced Russia’s interference in the formation of the opposition delegation, stressing that Russia’s attempts to add certain figures to the opposition’s delegation-which was unanimously agreed on by the High Negotiations Committee during the Riyadh conference-will stymie negotiations. Khoja added that Russia could instead have those figures in the Assad regime’s delegation if it so insists they must take part in the Geneva conference. (Source: Al-Sharq al-Awsat)