Syrian opposition backers meet in London
William Hague is hosting foreign ministers from across the world in London to prepare for a proposed Syrian peace conference.
Foreign Secretary William Hague will meet counterparts from 10 other countries, the Friends of Syria group, to discuss how to support the Syrian opposition ahead of a conference due to take place in Geneva.
Alongside Britain and the United States, representatives of Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are expected to restate their call for transition away from the Assad regime.
The western-backed umbrella, the Syrian National Coalition, will meet next month to decide if they will take part in the Geneva summit.
‘No faith’
One of the most prominent groupings inside the coalition, the Syrian National Council, says it has no faith in negotiations with Bashar al-Assad’s regime and will not be part of the Geneva process.
However, President Assad has also cast doubt on the conference, which has been brokered by the US and Russia, telling Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV that “the factors that would help in holding it are not in place if we want it to succeed”.
“Who are the groups that will participate? What is their relation with the Syrian people? Do they represent the Syrian people or they represent the country that made them?”.
The countries are expected to shift the focus back onto the humanitarian crisis following weeks of attention on Assad’s chemical weapons.
William Hague said the meeting would “discuss preparations for the Geneva conference, support for the Syrian National Coalition, and our efforts to achieve a political settlement to this tragic conflict”.
Jihadi fears
The United States is hoping to unite moderate elements of the Syrian opposition at the peace conference next month in Geneva, in a bid to end the two-and-a-half year civil war.
They have warned that the recent gains by Islamists would make the task harder, with groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) taking territory in parts of the north near the border with Turkey in recent weeks.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition has been forced fight on two fronts as a result.