Syria opposition wants pressure on Damascus before agreeing to talks

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

President of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) Ahmad Jarba (C) and members attend a meeting of the National Coalition on Nov. 9. AFP photo

Syria's splintered opposition coalition insisted Nov. 9 it would not go to peace talks in Geneva unless pressure was brought to bear on Damascus to abided by the outcome.

"We have always said that we are fully committed to Geneva. But we are worried that if we go there the al-Assad regime is not serious about the implementation of Geneva," said coalition spokesman Khaled Saleh.

Saleh was speaking as the opposition battling to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met in Istanbul to decide whether to attend a peace conference that world powers want to hold in Geneva.

The meeting involving the main umbrella group, the National Coalition, and due to run into Nov.10 took place as rebels retook a strategic base in northern Syria.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy tasked with trying to quell the Syrian conflict, Lakhdar Brahimi, warned earlier this week that bitter rival camps in the opposition must forge a united front for the proposed peace talks, dubbed "Geneva 2".

World powers have been pushing for the peace negotiations between the warring sides to take place before the end of the year.

But the initiative has been stalled by the opposition's internal dissent - robbing it of credibility internationally and in the eyes of the rebels it is meant to represent - and its demand for the talks to call for al-Assad's ouster.

A key faction in the opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, has baldly refused to take part, and has threatened to break from the grouping if some members go.

Foreign ministers from 11 Western and Arab nations holding a "Friends of Syria" meeting in Britain last month to pave the way for Geneva 2 agreed al-Assad should have no role in any future Syrian government. But that failed to convince the opposition to commit to Geneva.

For its part, the al-Assad's regime, which has international diplomatic protection from Russia, has warned it will not take part if the aim is to call for the Syrian President to leave power.

Al-Assad refuses to acknowledge that his army is fighting a revolt, preferring to label the rebels "terrorists" sponsored by Arab rivals.

The president has also opened the door to possibly standing for re-election in polls next year, to the fury of the opposition and the consternation of the United States.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said this week that some opposition members have accepted an offer of informal talks in Moscow to precede the Geneva conference.

Turkey's foreign ministry meanwhile said Syrian opposition was justified to have "hesitations" about Geneva 2, particularly over its format and al-Assad's future role.

Turkey, which borders Syria and has received a flood of more than 600,000 refugees from the conflict, has become a key opponent of al-Assad. 

Russian pressure 'instrumental'

The opposition coalition's spokesman said of the proposed Geneva meeting: "Everyone knows that the al-Assad regime is going to try to buy more time... and kill more Syrian civilians."

He added: "We want to go to Geneva but everyone has to be serious, not only the al-Assad regime but its allies. We want the Russians to apply real pressure on the al-Assad regime." Saleh noted that recent Russian pressure had been instrumental in making al-Assad destroy his chemical weapon stocks.

Asked about when the opposition might declare whether or not it was going to the talks, the spokesman said the coalition "certainly hadn't received any invitation from the U.N."

Saleh stressed the opposition's categorical rejection of Assad playing a role in any negotiated solution to the conflict.

"It has become obvious to anyone that there is no role for Assad if Geneva 2 is really to be applied, whether in the transitional period or after that." Of the president's future, he added: "I can only say that he deserves a fair trial."

A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Nov. 9 that Syrian rebels - among them Al-Qaeda loyalists - firing Grad rockets overnight regained control of a strategic base near Aleppo in fierce fighting that killed more than 50 people.

Much of the base, located near Aleppo's international airport, had been seized from rebels on Nov. 9 by al-Assad troops backed by Hezbollah fighters.