Vice President of the Syrian Coalition Hisham Marwa told AFP that “we were waiting for de Mistura to invite us to negotiations, and instead he invited us to unimportant consultations at a time when the Syrian opposition is winning key victories on the ground.”
“The invitation to Iran only strained the situation further and that’s our basic problem with de Mistura,” he added.
The Syrian Coalition had been expected to hold talks with de Mistura, who had described the consultations as a way to take stock of the situation more than four years into the conflict and potentially plot a path back to peace talks.
But Marwa said de Mistura’s decision to invite some 40 “dissidents, artists, civil society organizations and research centers” to participate in the talks suggested he was not serious.
“It became clear to us that he does not treat the Syrian Coalition in a way that gives the impression that he is serious about finding a solution.”
He also criticized the UN envoy for insisting that Syrian Coalition President Khaled Khoja attend the talks in person, rather than dispatching an envoy as the Assad regime did.
The Syrian Coalition said yesterday that the head of the Legal Committee Haitham al-Maleh will clarify its position on the implementation of the Geneva communique and the transitional process in Syria to the UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.
In addition to two letters, Maleh will submit documents of agreement that the Syrian Coalition negotiated with other Syrian opposition blocs focusing on a political solution in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
