Syrian opposition agrees to attend Geneva peace talks

The Western-backed Syrian opposition agreed to participate in international peace talks in Geneva, the Syrian National Coalition said in a statement early on Monday.

The statement, translated from Arabic, outlined conditions that must be met before the talks, which aim to end Syria’s two-and-a-half year civil war, by creating a transitional governing body.

There must be a guarantee that relief agencies would be allowed access to besieged areas, the release of political prisoners and any political conference should result in a political transition, the statement said.

Following some opposition to the Geneva process from rebel fighters, the statement said that a committee had been assigned to continue talks with revolution forces inside and outside Syria to explain its stance on “Geneva 2,” as the talks are referred to in diplomatic circles.

The Syrian National Coalition reached the consensus decision after two days of discussions.

“All we can do is hope is that these (Geneva) talks will end with the departure of Bashar al-Assad,” said Adib Shishakly, a member of the coalition.

Reuters