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| From www. politico.com |
The authoritative Saudi
daily Asharq Alawsat says today the
Syrian opposition umbrella organization, known as the Syrian National Coalition,
is seeking to push back the Geneva-2 peace conference for Syria slated to be
held in the Swiss resort of Montreux on January 22.
The paper quotes an SNC
source as saying the alliance will be telling its Sunday meeting with the core
group of the Friends of Syria – better known as the London 11 – it can only
attend the Geneva-2 parley if the conditions set in the Geneva communiqué of
June 2012 are met. Chiefly among them is the provision stating: “In all circumstances, the Government must allow immediate and
full humanitarian access to humanitarian organizations to all areas
affected by the fighting. The Government and all parties must enable the
evacuation of the wounded, and all civilians who wish to leave to do so.”
French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius, who accompanied President Francois Hollande on his second state
visit to Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago, declared yesterday: “The opposition is
right to demand that in parallel to Geneva-2, humanitarian corridors be
established and the bombing cease.”
Speaking at a joint
press briefing in Paris with his visiting Japanese counterpart, Fabius gave this
insight into Geneva-2, translated by France
Diplomatie:
Q.: Mr. Fabius, in three days’
time you will host an important meeting on Syria. You said just now that you
have discussed this matter with your guests. At a time when the Syrian
opposition is tearing itself apart -- they haven’t yet managed to accept or
turn down the invitation to attend the Geneva-2 conference -- what can we
expect from a conference in which the opposition may not participate?
Regarding Syria, the day before yesterday,
I received the invitation from Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, to the
Geneva conference on January 22 which should take place as follows: On the
first day, a meeting will take place in Montreux where we will set out our
positions. Then on January 24, there will be a meeting between the Syrian
delegations, in the presence of Mr. Brahimi.
Obviously, we
support the holding of the Geneva-2 meeting, to the extent that we have always
maintained from the outset that the solution be a political one.
I would also like to say that if people had listened to France more carefully
from the outset, then we probably wouldn’t be in the absolutely tragic
situation that we’re in now.
I remember very clearly – it was one of
the first times that I received many of my foreign colleagues, just after we
took office – the major conference known as the Friends of Syria conference.
At the time we said that Mr. Bashar
al-Assad, who UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described as having committed
“crimes against humanity,” could not have a role in the future of Syria’s
people.
The vision of
the future should be built around the moderate opposition.
At the time, in July 2012, there was no
Iranian or Hezbollah presence, and there were no terrorist movements. A
specific action would have been enough to ensure that developments proceeded as
desired but we weren’t heeded. The U.S. elections took place, there was dissent
between different groups, and now we find ourselves with an absolutely tragic
situation. Thousands of people die every month; there are appalling atrocities.
The number of deaths has now exceeded
130,000. There are millions of displaced persons, with tragic consequences, not
just for Syria, a tormented country, but also for Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and
Iraq.
We need a
political solution to address this. In order to find this political solution,
we have to engage in discussions – hence Geneva.
The letter that Mr. Ban Ki-moon sent us,
which is very well written, states that the goal of the Geneva meeting is to
create a transitional government with full executive powers, through
discussions between the parties.
The goal of Geneva-2 is to meet, even if
it’s not easy, in order to try and build a transitional government with full
executive powers, not with Bashar al-Assad but with some elements of the regime
and with the moderate opposition. It’s critical because if it doesn’t happen,
Bashar al-Assad will say, “If you don’t want the terrorists, support me,” and
the terrorists will say, “if you don’t want Bashar al-Assad, support the
terrorists.”
We don’t support Mr. Bashar al-Assad, who
is guilty of crimes against humanity, or the terrorists. We have to find a
solution through dialogue. It’s true that the situation of our moderate
opposition coalition friends isn’t easy.
They have to fight on two fronts: on the
one hand, there’s Mr. Bashar al-Assad, supported by the Iranians and the
Russians; and on the other hand, the terrorist movements. That’s why we’re going to have a meeting on
Sunday involving the 11 countries that make up the so-called “Core Group” in
the presence of Mr. Ahmad al-Jarba who has just been re-elected as president of
the moderate opposition and we will discuss the situation. The moderate
opposition will meet again on January 17, following our meeting in Paris.
This
is where we are. We believe Geneva-2 -- provided its mandate is fulfilled -- is
necessary. We call on all parties to make an effort to participate in the
conference, but in accordance with the mandate. If Geneva-2 takes
place – as we hope it will – there will be a second difficulty, namely the need
to achieve concrete results.
If we want a political
solution, we have to talk to each other. At the same time – and this is a request
that I reiterate to the international community – we must put an end to the
atrocities, to the terrible bombing that’s taking place and address the humanitarian
needs.
The opposition is right to
demand that, in parallel to Geneva-2, humanitarian corridors be established and
the bombing cease.
