Syrian opposition not received any formal peace initiatives: Coalition
president
Hadi Al-Bahra says Syrian opposition has not received invitation to attend
Moscow talks
Asharq Al-Awsat Sunday, 28 Dec, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/12/article55339858

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—As Damascus said it was ready to participate in
Russian-backed “preliminary consultations” in Moscow aimed at restarting
peace talks next year to end the Syrian conflict, opposition Syrian National
Coalition President Hadi Al-Bahra said that “no formal initiatives” for a
peace plan had been submitted to the Coalition so far.

In a broad-ranging interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the Syrian opposition
chief discussed competing international peace initiatives from both Moscow
and UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, stressing that any peace
initiative must be based on the Geneva Communique.

Syrian state-run TV on Saturday announced that Damascus is ready to
participate in peace talks hosted by Russia next month, amid suggestions the
talks could pave the way to restarting direct peace talks between the Assad
regime and Syrian rebels. However, the president of the Syrian National
Coalition—the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group—said it had not
received any formal invitation from Moscow.

“Until now, we have received nothing official about a Moscow meeting. We
have not received any formal or verbal invitation or any specific date,”
Bahra told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Bahra acknowledged, however, that he had heard about the Moscow initiative.
“During previous meetings with [Russian Deputy Foreign Minister] Mikhail
Bogdanov, he informed us that his country was considering proposing the idea
of a summit based on two axes: First, dialogue between the opposition . . .
and [second], dialogue between the opposition and the regime.”

However, Bahra immediately affirmed that talks are already taking place
within the Syrian opposition to reach a joint vision to deal with the
evolving situation on the ground in the country, particularly following the
rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the establishment of
a US-led international coalition to combat the group. Many international
observers have warned that time is running out to reach a political solution
to end the Syrian conflict amid fears that ISIS will seek to exploit any
power vacuum to entrench its position in Syria.

“For more than a month now, the Coalition has taken steps to begin a process
of dialogue with all political parties, trends, civil associations and trade
unions about the prospects of reaching a political solution,” Bahra told
Asharq Al-Awsat.

As for reopening dialogue between the Syrian opposition and the Assad
government, he said: “The 24-point Statement of Basic Principles outlined by
the opposition that we formally submitted during the Geneva talks continues
to be an appropriate basis for the reactivation of the Geneva Conference,”
stressing that an peace initiative must “start from where we left off rather
than returning to square one.”

“The international community’s efforts crystallized with the issuance of the
Geneva Communique on June 30, 2012, and therefore this must be the reference
and basis for any future negotiations,” the Syrian National Coalition
president added.

Commenting specifically on the “preliminary consultations” that have been
called for by Moscow, Bahra said: “Moscow previously informed us that it
backs the Geneva Communique and considers this to be still active. However,
what is being put forward with regards to these consultations is not part of
any announced agenda or program, and so these will not succeed. There must
be a clear agenda, international backing, and a legal framework to ensure
success.”

Bahra also played down the chances of UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura’s
peace plan succeeding. De Mistura’s plan calls on the Syrian government and
opposition forces to observe a ceasefire in Aleppo in order to allow
humanitarian aid to reach around 1 million of the city’s inhabitants and to
act as a prelude for a potential political solution. If the Aleppo truce
proves successful, other local truces would be agreed between government and
oppositions forces elsewhere.

However, Bahra said that “until now, de Mistura’s plan has not been
submitted to us in a complete and written form so that we can review it. All
the discussions until now have been verbal.”

“We welcome de Mistura’s efforts and his quest for peace in Syria, and we
have given him some of our observations about his initiative to ensure its
success,” he added.

Bahra said that any ceasefire plan must cover a number of important points,
including ensuring that this does not allow the Assad regime to redeploy its
troops from one front to another, reinforcing its position on other
battlefronts. “There must also be a regulatory mechanism to ensure this
initiative. What are the punishments if the initiative is breached?” Bahra
asked.

“We all know that there being no punishments for violating this initiative
will ensure that no party will adhere to it,” he added. The Syrian
opposition chief also stressed that regardless of whether Syrian regime
forces and Free Syrian Army soldiers adhere to any proposed ceasefire,
ISIS—which has a strong presence in parts of Aleppo—will not, and will
naturally seek to exploit any power vacuum on the ground.

“We believe that de Mistura’s initiative should be part of a comprehensive
political solution. As for carrying out the initiative on its own, this will
not give it any chance of success,” Bahra told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Bahra also denied that the opposition was seeking to obstruct the
initiative, saying: “We have put forward our observations and points to
ensure it [the initiative] succeeds. It is well-known that de Mistura is
negotiating with the regime, so if there are obstructions, they are
definitely on the part of the regime, not the opposition.”