Syria friends’ “core group” are set to discuss the process of a comprehensive political transition in Syria a few days after the United States, Great Britain, and France launched missile strikes against the Assad regime in response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians in the town of Douma on April 7.
The United States, France, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, which have formed a “contact group” on Syria, will hold a meeting Thursday in Paris on the sidelines of an international conference to combat financing for the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
President of the Syrian Coalition Abdurrahman Mustafa on Wednesday called for maintaining the international momentum on Syria in order to find a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254. He stressed the need to accelerate the work of the international mechanism adopted to identify war criminals and hold them to account.
President Mustafa said that the activation of this mechanism aimed at putting an end to the war crimes being committed by the Assad regime as well as its Russian and Iranian allies is key to resolving the Syrian crisis. He pointed out that prosecution of war criminals would pave the way for the creation of an appropriate environment for a comprehensive political transition in line with the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254.
France earlier urged Russia to join a push for a political solution in Syria after the joint US, French and British attacks on the Assad regime’s chemical weapons sites.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that “we should join our efforts to promote a political process in Syria that would allow a way out of the crisis.”
The political process has stalled because of the Assad regime’s refusal to discuss political transition in line with the Geneva Communiqué of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254. Assad insists on pursuing a military solution as his forces continue to commit war crimes against Syrian civilians in various areas across Syria.
President Mustafa emphasized the importance of reaching a political solution based on the formation of a Transitional Governing Body (TGB) as essential to the restoration of stability, the return of refugees, and the elimination of the threat being posed by the Iranian sectarian militias and other terrorist organizations. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
