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Russia blames Syrian opposition conference for hindering peace process

Xinhua, December 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday slammed a meeting held by Syrian opposition in the Saudi capital of Riyadh this week, which culminated with a call for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Asaad.

While calling the meeting unrepresentative and accusing the Syrian opposition for setting a number of preconditions, the Russian ministry said in an online statement that any agreement on political settlement should only be reached through dialogue of Syrian government and opposition forces.

The Riyadh meeting, which was held Wednesday and Thursday, involving some 100 representatives of the Syrian opposition groups, agreed that all segments of the Syrian society needed to be represented in the future political system. The joint statement issued after the meeting also demanded the immediate departure of all foreign fighters and armed groups in Syria.

The Syrian opposition forces have long been demanding the departure of President Assad, while countries like Russia and Iran believe that the future of Syria should include all factions of the country.

The Russian ministry also blamed the Syrian opposition for inviting "terrorists" to the meeting, such as Jaish al-Islam, or the Army of Islam, which Moscow accused of attacking Russian embassy in Syrian capital of Damascus.

"We are still convinced that the political process in Syria should exclude unsuited terrorists," the ministry said, noting that the representative list of Syrian opposition delegates should be gathered by UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

The ministry described another meeting to be held Monday in Paris by "Friends of Syria Group" as an attempt to impose a unilateral format on the peace talks and to hamper the Syrian reconciliation.

The ministry said that Russia was ready to continue work within the framework of the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) but stressed political transition in the war-torn country should begin without preconditions.

"Only the Syrian people can decide the fate of Syria, and agreements must be respected," according to the online statement of the Russian foreign ministry.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, on Friday said the Riyadh conference was a move to maintain the positive momentum of the efforts of the ISSG, which allows it "to move forward and launch a credible political negotiations among Syrians in January to implement the 2012 Geneva Communique and the ISSG Vienna statements."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday expressed disapproval of the opposition forces' meeting held in Riyadh.

Some groups with links to Daesh, or the Islamic State the extremist group in Arabic, were present at the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian said. He stressed terrorists will never be allowed to decide the future of Syria. Endit