US Comforts Gulf States Ahead Of ’Geneva Convention II’
Local Editor
Hours before the foreign ministers of "The Friends of Syria Core Group of Countries" - "The London 11" - met in UK's capital Tuesday. The foreign opposition was further pressed to attend "Geneva Convention II", which will be held next month. The opposition factions similarly pressed the West, demanding that their main condition be fulfilled: "the formation of a Transitional Governing Body [TGB] with full executive powers; Assad... will have no role in Syria."
Still, President al-Assad himself made it worse for the foreign opposition, declaring in a televised interview he is most probably going to run for next year's presidential election, which is something some opposition currents absolutely refuse.
All attention was then headed to the French capital, where the US Secretary of State John Kerry met Arab officials including the Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Saoud al-Faysal. The meetings came after Saudi Arabia criticized the international community and the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] for the way they dealt with the Syrian and Iranian issues.
The "Saudi News Agency" reported that Saoud al-Faysal, now residing in Paris, discussed different regional and international issues with Kerry. On top of the issues were Syria's crisis, the Iranian nuclear issue, and the ""Israel"-Palestine Peace Talks".
The outcomes of Kerry's meetings were expected to be first declared at night. A press conference joined Kerry and the chairman of the "Arab Ministerial Committee for Follow-up on ""Israel"-Palestine Peace Talks", the Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Bin Muhammad al-Atiyah.
Kerry was as well supposed to convene long with his Arab counterparts to focus on Syria's developments and preparations ahead of "Geneva Convention II".
In the press conference that Kerry held with al-Atiyah, he said the US would continue to support the "moderate" Syrian opposition. Kerry also pointed out that since Iran did not approve of the demands of "Geneva Convention I", it would be "hard" for it to take part effectively in "Geneva Convention II".
A Western observing source said that Kerry sought comforting the Gulf States ahead of the "Geneva Convention II": emphasizing the US's abidance by the communiqué of the 2012 "Geneva Convention I", which called for the formation of a Syrian government with full executive powers; assuring them the US would support the "moderate" Syrian opposition; and stressing the necessity of finding a "political solution" for Syria's crisis.
Source: Al-Ahed News
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