Iraqi offers to broker transition talks

Efforts to draw together the fragmented foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad could lead to direct talks between the leader’s regime and his opponents, a key official said after talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Friday proposed plans to broker discussions for a political transition in Syria — amid the paralysis at the UN Security Council which has cast a pall over the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.

In an interview, Zebari said he offered to bring together Syria’s regime and opposition at a meeting Friday between nine representatives of antiAssad groups and the Friends of Syria — a coalition that includes the United States, the European Union and the Arab League.

He acknowledged that the UN and Arab League joint envoy on Syria would need to take the plan forward.

Establishing a more coherent opposition is seen as a means of increasing pressure on the Syrian leadership amid Russia and China’s veto of three resolutions aimed at forcing Assad to end the violence.

Syria’s opposition has been criticized as hopelessly fractured and unable to coalesce around a transition plan that was adopted by members of the UN Security Council in Geneva over the summer, though Western officials say they are seeing progress.

Revolutionary councils in cities including Damascus and Aleppo are becoming increasingly organized, U.S. officials insist.