World powers have agreed on a power transition plan for strife-hit Syria, with a unity government to include members of the present government and opposition, international envoy Kofi Annan said.
A crunch meeting in Geneva agreed that the transitional government “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent,” Mr Annan said.
It was not immediately clear what role, if any, was envisaged for President Assad. Russia has refused to back a provision that would call for Mr Assad to step down to make way for a unity government.
Diplomats had discussed Mr Annan’s proposals in preparatory meetings on Friday in an effort to come up with ways to break the deadlock on Syria‘s political transition after Russia proposed changes to the Annan plan.
Today’s meeting was attended by foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding members of the security council – Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US – along with key powers in the Middle East.
Mr Annan was upbeat as he arrived for the preparatory discussions on Friday.”I think we are going to have a good meeting tomorrow. I am optimistic,” he said.
The Geneva talks would end “with an acceptable result”, he said, without giving details.
Before Friday, one diplomat predicted that although most of the participants were focused on the question of political transition, Russia might come up with new demands in order to prolong President Assad’s grip on power in Syria, perhaps exploiting the fact that the draft agreement does not name Syria’s ruler explicitly.
As preparations for the meeting were being made this week, rebel forces attacked Syria’s main court in central Damascus, state television said, while Turkey deployed troops and anti-aircraft rocket launchers to the Syrian border.
The Syrian president on Thursday dismissed the notion of any outside solution to the 16-month-old uprising against his rule.
“We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries. No one knows how to solve Syria’s problems as well as we do,” Mr Assad said.
Tension on the border between Syria and Turkey remained high, with Turkish troops and anti-aircraft weapons stationed in the region following the shooting down of a Turkish fighter jet by Syrian forces.