AntiAssad bloc opposes rebuilding Syria

NEW YORK: The United States, Britain and other countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar alAssad will not support the reconstruction of the country until there is a political transition ‘‘away from Assad’’, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said yesterday.

The ‘‘Friends of Syria’’ group, an alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries, yesterday met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at a time when the conflict in Syria, now in its seventh year, appears to be a less urgent matter for the UN, with global attention more focused on the North Korean nuclear threat.

‘‘We believe that the only way forward is to get a political process going and to make it clear to the Iranians, Russians and Assad regime that we, the likeminded group, will not support the reconstruction of Syria until there is such a political process and that means, as Resolution 2254 says, to a transition away from Assad,’’ Johnson said.

He was speaking after a meeting of about 14 countries that back the Syrian opposition including France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.

The UN Security Council has adopted a Syria transition road map through a Genevaled process.

Russia joined the war on Assad’s behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favour. Assad also enjoys support from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the moderate Syrian opposition is moribund and the United States has largely stepped back from a leading role in Syrian diplomacy.

Earlier this year the Trump Administration also halted the CIA’s covert programme to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting Assad.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Satterfield, said all those at the meeting agreed that ‘‘there has got to be a political process if there is to be any international participation in the reconstruction of Syria’’.

‘‘The reconstruction of Syria depends very much on that credi ble political process. That political process is focused on Geneva and the role of the United Nations.’’

The meeting yesterday was in stark contrast to last year’s which took place after a ceasefire deal between the United States and Russia effectively collapsed when an aid convoy was bombed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Aleppo is now in the hands of Assad’s forces and Assad himself is in a much stronger position, thanks to Russian and Iranian support.

The last major international attempt to resolve the crisis ended in failure when the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which included Iran, was cast aside after Syrian government forces retook the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in 2016.

Russia, Turkey and Iran have been negotiating separately for months in Astana to try to reduce violence on the ground by creating deescalation zones across the country, although those talks do not cover a longterm political solution. — Reuters