Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir renewed his country’s rejection of giving any role for Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s future.
Speaking at a news conference with visiting Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, Al-Jubeir said Riyadh was in contact with various Syrian opposition groups about a potential meeting in the Kingdom to unify their position ahead of upcoming peace talks in Vienna.
“The military option is still viable and the support to the Syrian opposition is still continuing,” Al-Jubeir told the news conference.
“If it (the conference) happens, its aim will be to unify the Syrian opposition and help them to come out with one vision so that it can play an active role in the talks to reach a peaceful solution that leads to the removal of Bashar Assad.”
Riyadh is trying to bring “as broad a cross-section of Syrian opposition groups as possible” to a meeting in the kingdom, Jubeir stated, adding that groups on “terrorist lists”, such as IS, would not be part of the talks.
He underlined that Assad has to step down peacefully to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people. (Source: Syrian Coalition)