Britain Urges Support for ‘Moderate’ Opposition in Syria
By ALAN COWELL and MICHAEL R. GORDON
Foreign Secretary William Hague made the call as representatives of 11
Western and Arab nations met in London to promote peace talks.
By ALAN COWELL and MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: October 22, 2013
LONDON — As Western and Arab powers met here to pursue a settlement in
Syria, Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain renewed calls for
outsiders to back what he called moderates within the fractured
opposition to President Bashar al-Assad against Islamist rivals, urging
them to attend peace talks that may be held in Geneva next month.
Mr. Hague was speaking in a BBC radio interview as Secretary of State
John Kerry arrived in London from Paris to meet with the exiled leader
of the political wing of the opposition, Ahmad al-Jarba,
and join the so-called “London 11” foreign ministers seeking to
persuade Mr. Assad’s opponents to attend political negotiations.
“There is a lot going on as you know better than anybody,” Mr. Kerry
said at the start of the 45-minute meeting with Mr. Jarba, which was
held at the residence of the American ambassador. “We have a lot to
discuss.”
The moderate Syrian opposition has been struggling with a variety of
problems. The credibility of its leaders, who mainly live in exile in
Turkey, has been under challenge. Last month, a number of rebel
commanders signed a statement in which they broke with the opposition’s leadership and called for rebel groups to unify “in a clear Islamic frame.”
At the same time, the covert American program to arm and train the
military wing of opposition has proceeded slowly. Fighters from the
moderate opposition have also found themselves battling on two fronts
as they struggled against the Assad government while also contending
with extremists from the Al Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria.
In the radio interview, Mr. Hague acknowledged that Islamists were playing an increasingly influential role in the war.
“The reason we have to make sure we are supporting and dealing with the
moderate opposition committed to a democratic, pluralistic, nonsectarian
future for Syria is precisely because if they don’t have a role, then
all the Syrian people have got left is a choice between Assad and
extremists,” Mr. Hague said.
“Syrians on all sides now need to make the effort and make the
compromises necessary for a peace process to work,” he said.
“The longer this conflict goes on, the more sectarian it becomes. That’s
why we’re making a renewed effort” to call peace talks — known in
diplomatic shorthand as Geneva II. Western powers want the talks to
establish a transitional government of Syrians excluding Mr. Assad.
Mr. Hague also suggested that Iran, Mr. Assad’s main regional ally,
could attend the planned Geneva talks if it adopted what he called “a
more constructive role.”
“If they are serious, of course, it is helpful to have all outside
powers involved in this, but that depends on them coming on a common
basis of trying to achieve a peaceful settlement on the basis of a
transitional government in Syria,” he said. “That’s the position of
Russia and it’s the position of all of us among the West and among Arab
nations. It should be the position of Iran itself.”
After a war lasting over 30 months that has claimed more than 100,000
lives, Mr. Assad has given no indication that he is prepared to yield
power, telling a Lebanese television station that he saw no objection to
seeking re-election next year.
The London talks group representatives of Britain, Egypt, France,
Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates and the United States.
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