Riyadh Conference Set to Form Opposition Group for Talks With Assad

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in December, the Saudi capital hosted a conference attended by numerous Syrian opposition groups. At the close of the conference a 32-member council was formed, which is set to choose 15 delegates who will represent the Syrian opposition at the upcoming talks with the country's authorities. The opposition groups subsequently confirmed their readiness to start the negotiations with the Syrian president on the basis of the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012, but said that they would continue to demand Assad's resignation at the beginning of the transition process.

"[The] Riyadh conference [council] is authorized to represent the opposition at the talks," Sabra stressed, answering a question on whether some other opposition groups, absent from the conference, would take part in the talks.

According to him, the Supreme Council is examining the list of proposed participants and will announce the composition of the final delegation soon. Sabra said that no other sides, such as the United Nations, should interfere in the process.

According to Sabra, representatives of some armed opposition groups that also attended the conference might also be included in the delegation to talks with the Syrian government.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow did not agree with the position that the Riyadh conference participants represent the entire Syrian opposition. According to the Foreign Ministry, some members of the Syrian opposition that had proposed some constructive approaches to solving the crisis at recent intra-Syrian meetings in Moscow had been excluded from the conference in Riyadh.