Khaleej Times

Geneva talks to bring peace in Syria are a charade

- Abdul Rahman al Rashed Abdul Rahman Al Rashed is a senior journalist based in Dubai.

During World War II, Nazi Germany used some Frenchmen and formed a government of dummies, also referred as the Vichy government, to control occupied France and legalise its presence.

This is what the regime in Damascus is doing presently.

When the Syrian regime realised that the opposition had more legitimacy than it did, the government resorted to a trick of inventing groups that claim to belong to the opposition. Then, the regime allowed these groups to work in Damascus and sent them to capitals like Tehran and Moscow to negotiate on behalf of the opposition.

For over three years, no one believed this charade called Moscow’s and Cairo’s platform. It is only an accessory to the Syrian regime.

With the help of Russia, the Syrian regime insisted on imposing these fake groups on the Geneva negotiatio­ns. After the internatio­nal envoy had agreed to include them, Moscow now calls for their integratio­n within the actual opposition delegation. When the real opposition refused, they were accused of sabotaging the negotiatio­ns.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoma­n Maria Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow, “The socalled High Negotiatio­ns Committee is refusing to cooperate equally with the Moscow and Cairo platforms and is in fact sabotaging fully fledged dialogue.”

As long as Russia and Iran are supporting these talks, it is better to sign the deal in Tehran

After the inclusion of Russia and Egypt’s platforms, Geneva negotiatio­ns have become the worst political charade in history.

Even Vichy’s fake government had more integrity than this.

There is no point for the opposition to proceed after they were deprived of everything, even the right to represent themselves as an opposition.

Everything that represents the regime is fake. The army isn’t its army and neither is the opposition, which it insists on negotiatin­g with.

Assad’s regime is known for fabricatin­g slogans about Arabism, nationalis­m and democracy. It is also known for forging the elections and creating organisati­ons like Fatah Al Sham instead of the Palestinia­n resistance in Lebanon and jihad in Gaza, Palestine.

When the regime assassinat­ed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, it invented an organisati­on named “Jund Al Sham” and produced a video where a man named Abu Adas claimed he assassinat­ed Hariri.

The whole world realised later on that this was a fake story. Internatio­nal investigat­ions revealed the actual names of criminals involved with the regime in Damascus.

The regime did more than that during the Iraqi war after the US invasion. In collaborat­ion with Iran, it establishe­d organisati­ons that claimed to be Islamic and Baathist.

These opposing platforms are just fronts that heed to the requests of the regime and defend it. As long as Russia and Iran are supporting these Moscow and Cairo groups, it is better to sign the deal in Tehran and get over with this charade.

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