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Britain Urges Support for ‘Moderate’ Opposition in Syria Kerry Says Syrian Opposition Still Undecided on Peace Conference Next Month
(about 3 hours later)
LONDON — As Western and Arab powers met here to pursue a settlement in Syria, Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain renewed a call for outsiders to back moderates within the fractured opposition to President Bashar al-Assad against Islamist rivals, urging them to attend planned peace talks in Geneva next month. LONDON — The United States and 10 Arab and European nations expressed support on Tuesday for the convening of a peace conference next month in Geneva to begin negotiations on a political settlement to end the bloody civil war in Syria. But Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that the moderate Syrian opposition had not yet decided whether it would attend.
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. “They have to make up their mind,” Mr. Kerry said at a news conference in London. “And none of us are going to prejudge what they will do in that process.”
“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 that was held at the American ambassador’s residence. “We have a lot to discuss.” Ahmad al-Jarba, the president of the Syrian opposition coalition, and other rebel opposition leaders are to assemble next week and discuss whether to participate, Mr. Kerry said.
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.” The communiqué issued by the London 11, as the nations were known, addressed several themes important to the Syrian opposition.
At the same time, the covert American program to arm and train the military wing of the 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 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. It reiterated that a transitional government should be established as part of a political settlement and said that when it was formed President Bashar al-Assad and his close associates “with blood on their hands will have no role in Syria.”
In the radio interview, Mr. Hague acknowledged that Islamists were playing an increasingly influential role in the war. That element of the communiqué alone could pose an enormous obstacle to a peace conference. President Assad asserted on Monday that he would not only resign but is thinking about running for re-election in 2014.
The communiqué also called for stepping up support to the political and military wings of the moderate Syrian opposition and for improving its ability to meet the needs of the Syrian population in the areas it controls.
But the communiqué was notably lacking in some important specifics. It warned against “delaying tactics” and expressed hope that a transitional government would be established “within the coming months.” At the same time the communiqué set no firm deadline for creating the transitional government, which is to be established by “mutual consent” of members of the opposition and representatives of the Syrian government. Nor did it give details of what additional assistance is to be provided to the rebels.
The document outlined a serious of “confidence-building measures,” like calling on the government to end its “siege of urban areas” and establishing local cease-fires to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to hungry and beleaguered civilians.
But those measures will be listed as objectives for the Geneva “process” and not as prerequisites to the meeting next month.
The moderate opposition has been wary of being drawn into open-ended talks while the Assad government presses its attacks, fearing that such a move would undermine its credibility with Syrians inside the country after more than two years of war.
Already, the moderate political opposition, which mainly operates from its exile in Turkey, has come 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, fighters from the moderate opposition have also found themselves battling on two fronts as they struggle against the Assad government while also contending with extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda.
In a radio interview with the BBC before the meeting here, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, argued that it was important to strengthen the moderate opposition to counter inroads made by Islamic extremists.
“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.“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.“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,” he said. “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. Kerry said Tuesday that he thought the moderate opposition leaders would ultimately decide to participate in the meeting.
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.” “I believe that the conference can happen next month,” he said. “I am confident that in the end the opposition will decide that it is in their best interest.”
“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.” Mr. Kerry also acknowledged that there have been differences between the United States and Saudi Arabia on Syria.
After a war lasting more than 30 months that has claimed over 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. Saudi Arabia has wanted the United States to do more to train and arm rebel fighters. And the Saudi leadership was hoping that President Obama would order a cruise missile attack on the Syrian military in response to what Western and Arab powers said was the Syrian government’s Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
The London talks group includes representatives of Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. “We know that the Saudis were obviously disappointed that the strike did not take place,” said Mr. Kerry, referring to the cruise missile attack the White House had planned before it seized on a Russian alternative proposal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program.
Saudi Arabia has also been worried that the Obama administration may be too eager to seek a compromise with Iran over its nuclear program and was unhappy that Washington did not take a stronger stance against the Muslim Brotherhood when President Mohamed Morsi governed Egypt.
Mr. Kerry said that he had discussed these issues with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, when he met with him on Monday in Paris.
Saudi Arabia was among the 11 nations that issued the communiqué on Tuesday, and Mr. Kerry insisted that the Saudis and Americans were now “on the same page” regarding Syria.
The London talks group also included representatives of Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.