Eurasia Press & News
On Wednesday, the president of the Syrian Negotiations Committee Anas al-Abdah announced that he sent a letter to members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) stressing that the Damascus government delegation has been the obstructive party to the Committee’s work, and that the UNSC should assume its responsibility because “wasting time is not in Syrians’ best interests.”
“On Tuesday, we sent a letter to the presidency of the UNSC to be distributed to its 15 members just before holding its closed session over Syria,” Abdah said in a statement published on his Facebook account.
The letter stressed, “the regime is the main obstructive party to the political path, and we called on the UNSC, which is the internationally responsible authority, to work on the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2254 and all its agendas,” he pointed out.
He added, “the regime and its allies received a clear answer from European Union countries and others on Tuesday that there will be no legitimacy for upcoming elections… and no reconstruction before reaching a political solution.”
The EU stated that, “the only path can be reached through implementing UNSC Resolution 2254 and all its agendas, while the regime should show its commitment to seriously work within this framework.”
Constitutional Committee must set deadlines
On a related note, the Syrian opposition delegation to the Constitutional Committee implied that the regime delegation has shown that it has no intention or seriousness towards any political solution that leads to the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2254.
Co-chair of the Constitutional Committee in the Syrian Negotiation Commission, Hadi al-Bahra, stated on the Syrian Constitutional Committee Facebook page on Tuesday that “wasting time prolongs the suffering and tragedy of the Syrian people, and this is totally unacceptable.”
“It is not possible to continue the work of the committee and guarantee its success without setting a clear time table,” he added.
These statements sparked anger from many Syrian opposition activists, calling on the delegation of the Syrian Negotiation Commission to announce their withdrawal.
A source from the Syrian opposition (who preferred not to be named) told North Press that the message is clear that what is going on is a farce.
“The opposition delegation is sure that there is no clear solution in the near future, especially after the return of the American-Iranian negotiations over the nuclear program in which the Syrian issue will be a bargaining chip,” the source added.
The coalition is waiting for the results of the next Astana meetings, and said it will move accordingly, while nothing is expected except for a repeat of previous Astana statements.
Media circulated news about the intention of Syrian dissident Manaf Tlass to form a new military council to lead the stage, coinciding with the announcement of his brother Firas, to form a new political body.
As for Manaf Tlass, the source said that there is no serious move to form a military council, except for individual initiatives or a spectrum of defected officers that has not yet been completed.
Some sources indicated that the Syrian opposition delegation (the Syrian National Coalition or the Negotiations Committee) will announce its withdrawal from any political action in protest of the candidacy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the presidency.
“The coalition is surrounded by platforms and is afraid of withdrawing and leaving the arena, given that commitment to a political solution is not linked to the presence or absence of any spectrum of the Syrian opposition,” the source added.
