A meeting of the Syrian opposition began last night in Riyadh, in a bid to unify the group’s position ahead of peace talks back by the United Nations to end the Syrian conflict. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who’s country backs the High Negotiations Committee of the Syrian opposition, said the only solution to the conflict was through a Syrian consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people. The Saudi top diplomat said, “There is no solution to the crisis without a Syrian consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people on the basis of Geneva 1 and (U.N. Security Council) resolution 2254,” al-Jubeir stressed.
The United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, who is tasked by the world body to oversee the negotiations, urged the opposition figures gathered in Saudi Arabia to unify – amid strong disagreements – so that a unified team would be presented at the negotiations with Syria’s government representatives in Geneva, so that a political process would bear fruit. He said, “A strong unified team is a creative partner in Geneva and we need that, one who can actually explore more than one way to arrive to the goals that we need to have,” De Mistura emphasized.
The High Negotiations Committee, which represents several Syrian opposition groups, reached an all-time low this week, when its leader – former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab – resigned without explanation. Nevertheless, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the opposition would surpass this challenge and vowed that Saudi Arabia would provide whatever help the opposition needs to unify their apparent divisions
The opposition meeting is set to last until tomorrow, the 24th of November, when a joint statement is expected. Several rounds of UN talks in Geneva between the Damascus government and the opposition have made little progress since the Syria conflict erupted in 2011.