Syria opposition says Russia �not clinging� to Assad

AFP, MOSCOW: After talks with Moscow’s top diplomat, Syria’s main opposition group insisted yesterday that Russia is “not clinging” to President Bashar al-Assad.
The head of Syria’s National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, met Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a fresh push by Moscow to find a way out of the four-year civil war that has cost some 240,000 lives.
Moscow—one of Assad’s few remaining backers—is pushing a plan for a broader grouping than the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, to include Syria’s government and its allies. But Khoja—in Moscow for the National Coalition’s first talks there since February 2014 -- reiterated that Assad must go immediately and hinted that Russia’s support for the strongman may be wavering.
“We have found that the Russian authorities are not clinging to Bashar al-Assad personally, but rather they’re clinging to the Syrian state, its territorial integrity, and the preservation of its institutions,” Khoja told journalists at a press conference. A spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry said in response that Moscow’s position remained unchanged.
“We have always said that we do not support Assad in a personal capacity but that we support the legitimately elected president of Syria,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP.
The ministry said in a statement that Russia was pushing the National Coalition—Syria’s main opposition group in exile—to talk to other parties in the fragmented opposition about the creation of a cohesive negotiating platform for talks with the authorities.
The meeting Thursday is part of a broader diplomatic flurry that saw Saudia Arabia’s foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir fly into Moscow on Tuesday, on the back of a three-way Russian-Saudi-US meeting in Doha earlier this month.

 

Syria opposition says Russia �not clinging� to Assad

AFP, MOSCOW: After talks with Moscows top diplomat, Syrias main opposition group insisted yesterday that Russia is not clinging to President Bashar al-Assad. The head of Syrias National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, met Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a fresh push by Moscow to find a way out of the four-year civil war that has cost some 240,000 lives. Moscowone of Assads few remaining backersis pushing a plan for a broader grouping than the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, to include Syrias government and its allies. But Khojain Moscow for the National Coalitions first talks there since February 2014 -- reiterated that Assad must go immediately and hinted that Russias support for the strongman may be wavering. We have found that the Russian authorities are not clinging to Bashar al-Assad personally, but rather theyre clinging to the Syrian state, its territorial integrity, and the preservation of its institutions, Khoja told journalists at a press conference. A spokeswoman for Russias foreign ministry said in response that Moscows position remained unchanged. We have always said that we do not support Assad in a personal capacity but that we support the legitimately elected president of Syria, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP. The ministry said in a statement that Russia was pushing the National CoalitionSyrias main opposition group in exileto talk to other parties in the fragmented opposition about the creation of a cohesive negotiating platform for talks with the authorities. The meeting Thursday is part of a broader diplomatic flurry that saw Saudia Arabias foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir fly into Moscow on Tuesday, on the back of a three-way Russian-Saudi-US meeting in Doha earlier this month.