President of the Syrian Coalition Khaled Khoja said he regretted coordination between the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and a terrorist group like the PKK in the fight against ISIS. “It is not reasonable to fight terrorism through supporting its tools,” President Khoja stressed.
“ISIS cannot be defeated in Syria unless the international community coordinates with the Free Syrian Army on the ground,” President Khoja added.
Khoja said he is not optimistic about the meeting to be held with the UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh “because of the Russian position on Syria which is not conducive to building confidence. Russia seeks to eliminate the Free Syrian Army leaders before the launching of the negotiations between the Syrian opposition and the Assad regime.”
The Supreme Negotiating Committee began open meetings in the Saudi capital yesterday to discuss arrangements for the upcoming negotiations with the Assad regime at the end of this month. The meetings began with discussing the UN Security Council resolution 2254 and preparations for the meeting with Mistura on Tuesday as well negotiations with the Assad regime.
Secretary-General of the Syrian Coalition Mohammed Yahya Maktabi said that “the Supreme Negotiations Committee would focus on the latest military escalation by Russia, Iran and the Assad regime during its current meeting in Riyadh.”
Maktabi added that there would be in-depth discussions with de Mistura about the United Nations’ vision of the course of negotiations. “De Mistura has yet to determine the final shape of the upcoming negotiations with regard to participants. That is why we will give our final position after concluding our meeting with him,” Maktabi said (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al-Sharq al-Awsat)
