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Yes to political transition, but without al-Assad: Syrian opposition

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Syrian opposition member Asaad al-Zoubi on Tuesday said his team had come to discuss in depth the issue of political transition in the latest round of Syrian peace talks while warning that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has no future in a transitional governing body.

"The people of Syria insist on a transitional governing body that has no place for Bashar al-Assad or any of the key figures of the regime," the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) member highlighted.

"We came here after promising our people that we will convey our commitment to a political transition and a transitional governing body with full powers without the main figures of the regime," added Al-Zoubi, who also said that two papers relating to procedural matters and the release of detainees had been submitted in today's meeting with UN mediator Staffan de Mistura.

The fate of al-Assad and the issue of political transition are major sticking points between the Saudi-backed HNC, the umbrella group for Syrian opposition factions locked in bloody conflict with the Syrian president, and the Syrian government.

In a press conference Monday, the head of the Syrian government delegation Bashar Jaafari said that the fate al-Assad is not an issue which should be brought up at UN-mediated proximity talks, the first round of which is expected to end on March 24. By then, De Mistura hopes to have reached a minimum common platform between both slides, which would form the basis for more substantive talks in a second round of negotiations in April.

"Our job is to see the points we have in common and where are the points of difference, and do what the mediator normally does: see where there can be common areas. If that is the case, we will let you know by Thursday," De Mistura told the press after the HNC's stakeout.

The UN special envoy also welcomed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Moscow this week.

"We always need some help from Kerry and Lavrov, because they have really proved in the past, and I hope they will prove in the future, that when they do have a common understanding, it helps enormously the process," he said.

"We are looking with great interest, hope and strong expectation that the talks that will take place in Moscow will be productive. Obviously not everything will be solved in one day, but productive in the right direction in order to help us to resume the talks with much more in-depth address on the issue of political transition," De Mistura added.

The special envoy is expected to meet both the Syrian government delegation and the HNC on Wednesday. Endit