Opposition Groups Ready for Negotiations, but Assad Must Go

Despite the withdrawal of a powerful Syrian rebel group Thursday from an opposition conference held in Saudi Arabia, the fragmented gathering agreed on a framework that would guide proposed peace negotiations between the Syrian opposition and the Assad government.

The hard-line Saudi-backed Ahrar al-Sham militant group, which mainly operates in northern Syria, said in a statement that it pulled out of the conference in protest over the role given to groups it deemed too close to the Syrian government.

The group also said the conference failed to “confirm the Muslim identity of our people,” the Associated Press reports.

The two-day conference in Riyadh marks the most serious attempt yet to unify Syria’s heavily divided opposition groups.

Participants said they agreed to a framework that would lead the way to proposed talks with the Assad government set for January and aimed at ending Syria’s nearly five-year conflict.

The conference established a 32-member “supreme council,” made up of political opposition members and representatives of armed factions, tasked with selecting the 15 people who would represent the opposition in future negotiations.

While many Western leaders have said recently that President Bashar al-Assad could remain as part of a transition, Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh insisted the embattled leader could have no part in a transitional government.

Trilateral Syria Talks in Geneva

The United Nations, Russia and the United States are set to meet in Geneva Friday to hold talks on Syria, as part of a redoubled diplomatic push to end the conflict, AFP reports.

“We will be having consultations in the trilateral format – Russia, the Unites States and the U.N.,” Russian foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told a state news agency earlier this week.

Friday’s trilateral talks are the latest step in the political process established in Vienna in late October, when 17 countries and organizations, including U.N. and E.U. representatives, met to discuss political solutions to the war between Assad and Syrian opposition groups.

Assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, Anne Patterson, will represent the U.S. at Friday’s meeting, which is expected to cover the steps needed to move forward on a political transition in Syria.

The next round of diplomatic meetings connected to the Vienna process is set to take place in New York later this month.

Turkey Refuses to Return Stolen Syrian Antiquities, Official Says

The head of antiquities in Syria has accused Turkey of refusing to return stolen art and objects from ancient heritage sites across the country, Reuters reports.

More than 2,000 objects looted from historic sites such as Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage location, have been seized in Turkey, according to Syrian antiquities chief Maamoum Abdulkarim.

Abdulkarim claimed that Turkish authorities, in contrast to their counterparts in other countries neighboring Syria, have refused to cooperate with Syria in documenting and returning the stolen artifacts.

“The Turkish government refuses to register (the seized objects). There is no information, no pictures. It’s not transparent,” he said.

“They should change their approach. They told us, we cannot ‘do this’ because our law (prohibits) us from declaring what we have.”

Turkish officials have said Abdulkarim’s accusations were “baseless” and that they are “doing their best” to prevent the smuggling of Syrian antiquities.

Recommended Reads

• Agence France-Presse: Syria Government Scrapes Barrel as Economic Woes Bite
• The Washington Post: Here’s a Paradox: Shutting Down the Islamic State on Twitter Might Help It Recruit
• Foreign Affairs: Putin’s Power Play in Syria
• PBS: Can Syria’s Rebels Be Brought into the Political Process?
• Bloomberg: Western Officials: Iran Retreating From Syria Fight

Top image: Abdulaziz bin Saqr, center, chairman of the Gulf Research Council, speaks as Louay Safi, right, spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition, and Hind Kabawat, left, a member of the elected committee that will negotiate with the Syrian government, listen during a press conference on Thursday, Dec, 10, 2015, after a meeting of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)