Louay Safi, official spokesman for the Syrian Coalition ruled out sitting down with Iran at the negotiating table in Geneva 2, citing the “non-existence in Geneva 1 and that Iran is part of the problem rather than the solution.” This response comes in reply to comments made by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, claiming that the presence of Iran at the negotiating table in Geneva is “necessary and normal.” Safi concluded, “He speaks what he wants but we will only go on our terms,” adding, “I was not surprised by Brahimi words, this is not the first time that he has insisted that Iran be present at Geneva 2.”
The spokesman for the Syrian Coalition mentions “that the coalition presented several scenarios for the success of the conference to Brahimi, but there is no clear solution to these ideas, also Brahimi has no real guarantees from Assad to attend.” Also, the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army rejected to sit at the negotiating table with those who have” Syrian blood on their hands,” and said: “Let’s Geneva 2 fail if the international community does not take a critical attitude towards the horrific massacres against civilians.” The Supreme Military Council of the FSA said that the Geneva 2 formula lacks everything that suggests the possibility of reaching concrete results. The Council stressed the need to develop a specific timetable for all stages of negotiation, with the inclusion binding clauses that apply to all parties under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
Another key issue is to prevent splitting up Syrian territory. This came after a meeting between the President of the Syrian Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, and the Chief of Staff for the Free Syrian Army, with Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu, and UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, in Ankara yesterday. During his speech to the Friends of Syria in London, Ahmad Jarba ruled out accepting “Iran as a mediator at the negotiating table , in addition to the mercenaries of the militia of Hezbollah Brigades, Abu al-Fadl ALAbbas and the Revolutionary Guards ” who he considered the most important pillars of the Assad military and political forces, in killing Syrians.” It was also considered that the decision to Geneva 2 was in the hands of Syrian people, however, the “coalition is nothing more than an outlet to represent the will of the people, and said: “if we said yes to Geneva 2 you will hear the streets echo loudly ‘let the coalition and Geneva fail together.’” The head of the coalition describes Geneva 2 as a “humiliating settlement” and does not meet the aspirations of the Syrian people. It is considered as a step by the US to use faux humanitarianism to deflect from a shameful position taken “in regards to the inaction taken to the massacres and atrocities of Bashar al-Assad.” Also, Jarba insisted that the international community should punish Assad and stand by the will of the Syrian people, or attending Geneva will be impossible. He further promised the international community that there will be “five no’s rather than three, which are: No negotiation, no solution, no recognition, no retreat, no to an incapable international community.”
