Division Remains Over the Fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad
Syrians express opposition to Russian plan to end conflict
AP - A Russian proposal to end Syria's conflict that would include early presidential elections faced opposition from both sides on Wednesday, as deep divisions remained over the fate of President Bashar Assad.
Syrian legislator Sharif Shehadeh, a member of the ruling Baath party, told The Associated Press there will be no presidential vote before Assad's latest term ends in 2021. He added that parliamentary elections are an internal Syrian affair and that it was still too early to hold them.
His comments came a day after Russia circulated a document on ending Syria's conflict that calls for drafting a new constitution in up to 18 months. The charter would be put to a popular referendum and followed by an early presidential election.
Shehadeh said the proposal is not official yet.
"Regarding presidential elections there will be no talk about it. The president has a term and when it ends then we can talk about it," Shehadeh said.Assad was elected for a third seven-year term last year in an election boycotted by the opposition and panned by its Western supporters.
Al-Maleh, a senior member of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, said by telephone from Egypt:
"We will not accept that the regime stays even for 24 hours. Bashar should be detained and put on trial."
Syrian opposition, rebel groups united against U.N. Syria 'working groups' plan
October 3, 2015Reuters - A U.N. plan towards ending the civil war in Syria would not work in its current form, Syria's western-backed opposition and rebel groups said in a rare show of unity on Saturday, a day after the government said it was ready to take part in the initiative.
In July, U.N. special envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura unveiled the idea of inviting warring parties to form four U.N.-led working groups on how to implement a roadmap to peace, since the groups were not ready to hold formal peace talks.
In a rare instance of the coalition's political and military components finding agreement, the statement was signed by the political offices of powerful Islamist factions such as Ahrar Al Sham and those backed by the United States, such as Division 101.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Friday that President Bashar al-Assad's government was ready to participate in de Mistura's initiative, although he said any outcome would be non-binding.
"We consider that the 'work groups' initiative in its current form and its unclear mechanisms provides the perfect environment to reproduce the regime," the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said in a statement.It said the plan ignored "the majority" of the relevant U.N. resolutions on Syria, including those on ridding the country of its chemical weapons and allowing unfettered humanitarian access.
The statement was issued after the coalition held meetings in Istanbul this week to discuss de Mistura's plans.
This week Moscow launched its first air strikes on Syria amid claims that rebel groups — backed by governments opposing Syria's President Bashar al-Assad — rather than Islamic State militants were being targeted.
A source involved in Syrian negotiations said the opposition groups [against the Assad regime] had condemned Moscow launching its first air strikes on Syria. An announcement that the groups would meet in mid-October was likely to be put off, the source said, on condition of anonymity.
The statement from the opposition groups reiterated that Assad and the "pillars of his regime" have no place in a future Syria or a transitional government.
De Mistura has said the working groups could be a step toward a "Syrian-owned framework document" that would provide for a transitional governing body, procedures for national dialogue, a constitution drafting process and transitional justice issues.
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