Member of the General Assembly Khalid Nasser said that Russia seeks to achieve what it failed to achieve by military force through diplomacy. “Russia’s latest peace plan is part of its continuous attempts to circumvent the Geneva Communique, the basis of a political, and the UN Security Council resolution 2118, which calls for establishing transitional governing body with full powers.”
“Russia seeks to repudiate the Geneva Communique and rehabilitate Assad by engaging him in the settlement, undermining any political solution because Bashar al-Assad and his repressive regime is the root cause of the problem and must not have any role to play in the Syria’s future,” Nasser stresses.
He points out that Bashar al-Assad killed over 350,000 civilians and displaced half of Syrian people, stressing that his true place is before the International Criminal Court.
“For Russia to be a neutral intermediary in the political process, it must withdraw its troops from Syria and stop supporting the regime. This applies to a greater degree to Iran.
With regards to the Russian initiative, calling for adopting a new constitution and holding early elections, Nasser explained that these proposals are unworkable under the current conditions in Syria. He cites the diaspora of Syrian people and their unspeakable suffering either in refugee camps or under the rule of the Assad regime and ISIS.
He also stresses that the Assad regime has created an enabling environment for the emergence of extremism, thus any transitional process or elections including Assad will produce the same regime and therefore the problem will persist.
As for the upcoming Vienna meeting, held tomorrow, Nasser expresses doubts about the ability of the meeting to achieve a breakthrough and bring about a political solution that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people. He said that the previous Vienna meeting, held in the absence of Syrian people, was an attempt to bypass the Geneva Communique though participants referred to it.
Moreover, engaging Iran even though it has not yet recognized the Geneva Communique nor has shown willingness to withdraw its troops from Syria cast more doubts over the success of any such meetings. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
