Secretary-General of the Syrian Coalition Badraldin Jamous held a short meeting in Istanbul with Mikhail Bogdanov, special envoy of the Russian President. The Russian envoy stressed that his government is waiting for the Syrian Coalition to accept the Russian president’s invitation to visit Moscow, adding that “the Syrian Coalition was positive for Geneva II.” This comes after the National Coalition confirmed its participation in Geneva II, provided that Assad step down and the formation of a transitional government with full powers, in addition to opening humanitarian corridors and the release of all detainees and the presence of a specific timetable for all stages of negotiation. Jamous said that they “did not go into details during the meeting,” adding that “the Russian envoy is waiting the Coalition’s decision to agree to go to Moscow.” The Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition said earlier that “the negotiating team for Geneva II will be determined by the National Coalition exclusively,” and that “we will not go to Geneva for the sake of going, but in order to achieve the objectives of Geneva I represented in the conditions set by the Coalition.” Likewise, the Coalition considered the Russian Foreign Ministry’s claims that the opposition is blocking access to a political solution and aborting preparations for an international Geneva II conference, as nothing more than failed attempts aimed at “strengthening the position of the Assad regime.” Furthermore, the Coalition said in response to a statement by Russia’s Foreign Minister accusing Syrian revolutionaries of shelling various neighborhoods of Damascus, especially those inhabited by Christians, “that acts and violations of the principles of the revolution such as the shelling of residential neighborhoods in Damascus are committed only by al-Assad’s militia.” Also, the Syrian Coalition stressed that “Assad’s regime continues to fire mortar rounds on Damascus’ densely populated neighborhoods daily, targeting schools, markets and places of worship, then blames it on the revolutionaries and employs propaganda in order to earn a few more days of ruling the country.” The Coalition also called for monitoring “repeated statements by the FSA in Damascus and its countryside, which deny responsibility for the bombing of Damascus’ populated neighborhoods and those under the control of the regime because the principles of the revolution do not allow for making military gains at the expense of human lives;” a strategy which, according to a Coalition statement, has been consistently used by the regime to suppress the popular revolution since its early days. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
