Syrian Coalition: Only Power Will Force Assad to Negotiate

Ahmad Jarba, president of the Syrian Coalition, calls on the international community to support the Syrian rebels, stressing that “changing the balance of power on the ground is the only way to force Assad to negotiate a political solution. Jarba also said that the delegation of the Syrian Coalition to Washington will discuss finding an immediate solution to stop the barrel bomb attacks with the U.S officials. “We will also reaffirm the U.S officials that the Free Syrian Army utterly rejects terrorism. Furthermore, we are going to urge the Obama administration to take a firm stand against terrorist practices by the Iranian and Hezbollah militias fighting along the Assad regime.” Jarba will meet today with Susan Rice, Obama’s National Security adviser, while President Obama is expected to drop in later in the meeting. Jarba said earlier that “there will be no chances of reaching a political solution as long as Syrian rebels are under-equipped and outgunned,” during a speech he made in Washington yesterday. “We have never asked for the aid of foreign fighters, nor have we pleaded for the United States to send warships. What we badly need are the weapons that enable us to deter Assad’s air force that is raining death and destruction on Syrian cities and towns. We need effective weapons which we promise will be handed to the professionals that we know well.” Jarba also stated that “the United States should press toward the formation of a transitional governing body to ensure the stability of Syria after Assad’s departure. Syrian rebels are the only force that protect minorities and that will clear Syria of terrorist groups. In fact, Al Qaeda emerged in Syria after Assad released many of its members from his prisons, and we have, since December, declared war on this terrorist organization and have driven it out of Hama, Idlib and parts of Aleppo and Deir Ezzor.” Jarba pointed out that “the Syrian Coalition has repeatedly called on the UN Security Council to issue a binding resolution to force all sectarian militias out of Syria, most notably Hezbollah’s militias that have been killing the Syrian people according to orders from Iran.” Furthermore, Jarba criticized the international community’s silence on the farcical elections the Assad regime is going to hold in “blatant defiance to the international efforts to bring about a political solution. We all have seen how Assad acquiesced and relinquished his chemical weapons cache when the United States threatened to use force against his regime, which clearly show that the only language Assad understands is the language of force.” Jarba concluded his remarks stressing that “we want to build a modern and civil state, and we want to open the door to political solution in which Assad will not have a role to play. To achieve this, a transitional governing body must be put in place to lead the country for two years and then oversees the elections. Once the Assad regime is deposed, 75% of Syria’s problems will have been solved. (Source: Syrian Coalition)