Eurasia Press & News
Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on November 3 to discuss backing the Syrian opposition at a proposed Geneva peace conference, a top Arab diplomat said Monday.
Asked whether the ministers would discuss providing backing for the opposition groups, Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Hilli told reporters “the meeting on Sunday will look into this matter.”
Ben Hilli said an official date for the Geneva meeting has not been set. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi had previously said the meeting would take place on November 23.
Efforts to convene the conference next month have met with several obstacles, with a key opposition group refusing to attend if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation is not on the agenda.
National Coalition leader Ahmed Jarba, who had requested backing from the Arab foreign ministers, said the umbrella opposition group would negotiate only “a transfer of all power and then the departure of the mass killer (Assad).”
