Syrian opposition: No ceasefire unless Assad goes

Syrian opposition says they will not agree to any peace process that includes President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 250,000 people have died since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 [Mohammed Badra/Reuters]

by Diana Al Rifai, Al Jazeera

The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said the opposition would not agree to a ceasefire unless Bashar al-Assad signs an agreement to step down as president of Syria.

The comments came on Wednesday as the United States and Russia prepared for the next Syrian peace talks in New York on Friday.

“If they [US and Russia] want to fight terrorism as they say, why not get rid of the main problem, the government that is targeting civilians in Syria everyday?” SNC Vice President Naghm al-Ghadri told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

“The US and Russia have always disagreed on the fate of Bashar al-Assad, but agreed on countering [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], which is ironic because instead of getting rid of the root of all problems, they want to tackle an off-shoot that resulted because of the government itself.

“It is our basic right to choose what we want for our country. We are not be waiting for anyone to tell us the fate of a Syrian leader lies with the Syrian people. We were born with this right.

“Yes they will meet abroad and negotiate on behalf of Syria’s future, but at the end of the day the whole world knows that if the Syrian people do not agree on any given political solution, they will not apply it.

“All those people who were killed and the millions of refugees living in tents for the past five years did not go through all this so one day the international community can make up their minds regarding Syria. We will decide our own fate, regardless of all the talks and meetings held by them.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday and agreed to hold the peace process on Syria in New York on Friday.

“We will meet this Friday on the 18th in New York with the International Syria Support Group, and then for the purposes of affirming under the UN auspices what we are doing within that group, and if promoted, that we would pass a UN resolution regarding the Vienna communiques and the next steps with respect to negotiations and hopefully a ceasefire,” Kerry told a press conference on Tuesday.

The SNC vice president said that the opposition coalition was not officially invited to the New York talks, but they expressed their views and opinions about the meeting through ambassadors of countries they consider as friends of Syria.

“We know if we were asked to attend the talks in New York, which are going to be a follow up to Vienna 1 and 2, the Syrian government would want to attend too. We refuse to negotiate with the government at this point,” Ghadri said.

Riyadh Talks

The opposition met in Riyadh last week and agreed on a transitional government in the country that does not include Assad.

The coalition, headed by Khaled Khoja, aims to replace Syria’s current leadership with a transitional government after achieving international recognition.

“Many factions signed the agreement in Riyadh which highlights and stresses on the importance of Assad leaving. If some day we were left with no choice but to sit at the same table as the government, we will, but nothing the Syrian people do not want will be applied in our country.

“As we speak there are Russian jets targeting two areas in Latakia suburbs, where there is absolutely no presence for ISIL or al-Nusra Front, why? Because it is now clear, the intention is to target the Syrian rebels and not ISIL or al-Nusra. They mock us by saying they are targeting ISIL,” Ghadri said.

Kerry and Putin agreed to continue what they called a final stage on listing terrorist organisations and on providing assistance to the UN in forming the opposition delegation that should be representative and that should be ready for negotiations with the Syrian government.