Syrian opposition calls to pressure Iran, Russia
Says SDF border force opens door to future partition • More Geneva talks to take place next week
LONDON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump and European Union leaders should increase the pressure on President Bashar Assad and his allies Russia and Iran, to resume talks to end Syria’s civil war, Syria’s chief opposition negotiator said on Monday.
Nasr Hariri, the chief negotiator for Syria’s main opposition grouping, said that unless the West forced Assad and his big-power allies to seek peace, then the blood of Syrian civilians would continue to be spilled.
“I would like to ask all those countries that promised they would support the Syrian people and their aspirations for democracy and peace: why didn’t they fulfill their promises?” Hariri, speaking in English, told Reuters in London.
He called for Trump and EU leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May to get tougher with Assad.
All diplomatic initiatives have so far failed to yield progress in ending the Syrian civil war, which is now entering its eighth year, having killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million from their homes.
The map of Syria’s conflict has been decisively redrawn in favor of Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies during the past two years. They have recaptured major population centers in western Syria from rebels seeking to overthrow him and have pushed back Islamic State in the east.
In the face of the collapse of rebel-held territory, most Western countries have quietly softened their positions that Assad must leave power as part of any peace deal. But the opposition entered the last formal talks last month without softening its demand that Assad go, prompting the government to declare the talks pointless.
Nevertheless, Hariri suggested Western powers still had enough influence to push the government to negotiate.
“It is time for President Trump, Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister May to say: ‘Stop,’” the former cardiologist said.
“It is time for Trump, Merkel and May to increase pressure and bring the international community together to get a genuine and just political situation in Syria.”
Hariri represents the Saudi-backed umbrella group of Syrian opposition groups that are opposed to Assad and supported by the West. He said the next round of the so-called Geneva talks on the fate of Syria would take place in late January, probably around January 24-26 in Vienna.
Hariri said discussions in Washington, including with White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, had been positive and that the Trump administration understood the situation.
“Iran and Russia are trying to deprioritize the transition,” he said. “We need the international community’s help to put pressure on the regime and their backers, Russia and Iran.”
“The Americans want to test the Russians and the regime in the next round of talks. They want to move the Geneva process forward,” Hariri said.
When asked about US plans to help support a 30,000-strong force dominated by the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, he said it could lead to Syria’s partition.
“What are the benefits of establishing such an army?” he asked. “It will open the door wide for a future struggle in the region. It could open the door to the future partition of Syria.”
Assad has responded to the plan by vowing to crush the new force and drive US troops from Syria. Iran said on Tuesday that creation of the SDF force would “fan the flames of war,” echoing the vehement response of Syria, Turkey and Russia.
Hariri said it was very unlikely that the Syrian opposition would attend a meeting on Syria organized by Russia in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The opposition had received no invitation so far, and no final decision on attendance had been made.
“We have not been invited yet,” he said. “The general mood is not to go to Sochi. My personal view is that in its current shape, it is unacceptable to attend Sochi.”
Meanwhile, President Tayyip Erdogan told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a phone call on Tuesday that Turkey would take all necessary precautions to ensure its national security, presidential sources said.
The US-led coalition in northern Syria has said it was working with the mainly Kurdish YPG-led SDF to set up a new 30,000-strong border force. The move has angered Turkey.