President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) Nasr al-Hariri, met the French ambassador to the Turkish capital, Ankara, Herve Magro, as part of the political and diplomatic efforts to activate all baskets laid out in UN Resolution 2254, chiefly among them is the formation of a Transitional Governing Body. The meeting is also part of an international campaign to mobilize rejection of the elections that the Assad regime intends to hold and through which it seeks to undermine the political process and render it meaningless.
In attendance were also SOC’s Vice-president Ruba Habboush, Secretary of the political committee Riyad Al-Hassan, Coordinator of the Department of Foreign Relations Abdulahad Asteipho, and Director of the SOC’s Office in Ankara Ahmed Bakkoura.
The two sides discussed the latest developments on the ground in Syria, the suffering of the IDPs, the Assad regime’s insistence on pursuing a military solution, and the regime’s recent escalation in southern Syria.
They also discussed the developments in the political process, especially the fifth session of the Constitutional Committee, which has been stalled as a result of the Assad regime’s disruption of its work.
Al-Hariri stressed the need to activate all tracks of UN Resolution 2254, maintaining that the Constitutional Committee is an important part of the solution, but cannot lead to a solution on its own.
Al-Hariri pointed out that the Assad regime is seeking to disrupt the work of the Constitutional Committee in order to hold presidential elections, calling on the French government to ratchet up pressure the Assad regime’s backers to achieve tangible progress in the work of the Committee. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
